Bubbles Bad or Bubbles Good?
Here’s why you shouldn’t read only the ”Here’s why” stuff
Social Media is about bubbles.
The crowd is the algorithm.
You can use this fact to make yourself smarter or dumber. It’s your choice to tune in or tune out.
“Living in a bubble” is a term we like to use when we realize things are happening outside of our zone of interest, but we rarely become aware of them — because we live inside a bubble.
As much as we blame the algorithm for feeding us crap, they are “simple” recommendation programs that look at what other people of similar interests consume.
But this recommendation can work against us and for us.
Let me explain.
Bubbles Bad
Bubbles work against us until they’re uncurated. Here’s an example:
Brad is a writer who reads How To Get 100 Medium Followers In Five Minutes. He comments on and likes the article to get more visibility among the people desperately looking for 100 followers. Then Medium Algorithm goes like this:
Oh, I get it. So this is a cool article for writers! Akos is a writer, so let’s recommend this to him. I’m sure he’ll like it!
And I go like:
Having control over the bubbles we’re in and making them custom tailored with tools like “Show less like this” is inevitable on any Social Media platform.
With some patience, we can shape the bubble to work for us.
Bubbles Good
Last night I sent my newsletter to my friends, and one comment made me think, is it necessarily a bad thing to live in a bubble?
If you think about bubbles from a content-creator perspective, your curated bubble — curated bubble just means you clicked “Show less like this” enough times — is actually a mighty thing.
I’ve taken the time to Mute and Mark content on Twitter and Medium that’s not my cup of the. The results?
Every time I tune in to any of these platforms, the recommendation algorithm knows me so well that I can instantly interact with 99% of the stuff I see in my feed.
I happily read, like, and probably comment on it.
And none of this goes to waste.
Because the article I’m interacting with probably appears in the fine-tuned feed of someone else who might be interested in what I have to say.
You wouldn’t want to waste your time commenting on an article you disagree with because it’ll probably be read by people who don’t share your views. It’s like trying to convince people in the comment section of “5 Actual Proofs The Earth Is Flat” that they’re wrong.
So in terms of putting content out there and engaging with other people’s content, the bubble makes us more efficient.
But Ultimately, are they good or Bad?
If you live by the bubble, that’s where your entire knowledge and belief system originates from; it’s bad for you.
There are soo many things we can discover that aren’t mentioned in a bubble. Fantastic books that haven’t become trendy yet and haven’t been quoted to unconsciousness, waiting for you to be inspired by them. Legit methods, frameworks, and systems, waiting for you to discover them.
Take advantage of your bubble by keeping a healthy balance between what you consume and what you contribute to your bubble.
Keep it nice and curated, and it’ll serve you well!
Thank you for reading my blog!
– Akos
I publish articles on writing, audience building, and personal development once or twice a week. Join 350+ others reading my newsletter at akoskm.substack.com.
