The Social Media Algorithm Project
As a moderate social media user, curiosity struck and I wanted to find out about the world of the algorithm and have always wondered how the internet knew what I was thinking about. Originally, it was thought to be the work of artificial intelligence and them recording our every track online, but I figured that was not completely the case. I began looking a bit into the algorithm, but never got to really delve into it. It wasn’t until I took a social media class that the question came back. In this class, I learned how to create content on platforms such as YouTube and use Twitter to promote these videos and my ‘brand’. Along the way, we learned how to ‘cheat’ the system in order to get more of an outreach and increase our audience interaction.
By using different tactics of social media, we had the ability to win our way into the algorithm and reach users that had the same interest in what we were doing. It was a fascinating thing. In turn, I suddenly found an interest in learning more about different tactics that can be used to take advantage of the algorithm and how can such data be important for the system. The concept of the algorithm taking data from our own interaction with the internet was another thing that piqued my curiosity. And so, the creation of the Life In The Algorithm came into place. The beginning phase of this project consisted of preparing content for three different accounts: mental health, a TikTok, and a vlog account. Posting was scheduled to be every Tuesday and Thursday to help build consistency in increasing interaction and audience. Everything was made in advance so that content for each account was prepared to be posted immediately once the day started to give it time to accumulate interaction throughout the day. Observations and analytics were recorded the next day. Observations consisted of the number of likes and comments, generalization of the accounts that interacted with the post, and accounts reached.
The Instagram accounts consisted of three different aesthetics and topics: a mental health account with a neutral tone to fit a slightly casual, yet professional tone, TikTok to reach a wider audience suggesting that the platform is popular itself, and a vlog account fit for those interested in lifestyle. Mental health was a topic I found to be very touched upon throughout various communities around the world. Taking that to my advantage, I decided to research a little about what are some common things accounts of the similar post, and would then take on my own twist to create content for this account. Seeing how TikTok has become a rising platform this year on popular social media platforms, I chose to recycle trending posts and post them on Instagram to see if they would gain any attraction. Another popular thing that users get into is vlogs. The interest in seeing someone else’s life through a post is a common thing to do on any social media platform. Since people are spread all around the world and are often unable to travel due to personal restrictions and issues, seeing other people’s lives through their lens is something commonly done. It also forms some type of connection with the creator seeing the similarities and differences of each other’s life.