Photo by Kranich17
by Tony Thomas
I remember the early days of the Internet. It was the 90s. Life was much simpler then. Social media was just getting started.
With the help of Netscape Composer, I created my own HTML website. Getting visibility was easy. It showed up on the first page of Google with zero effort on my part!
Back then, you could reach a global audience effortlessly. And with the introduction of MP3 files, it was easy to share the music you created. No gatekeepers or middlemen to deal with.
Things are different now. Creativity is locked behind platform walls and guarded by algorithms. Your work is out there, but your intended audience may never see it.
The Shift from Open to Closed
Then came Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify. They promised global reach, but silently rewrote the rules of discovery. Organic reach evaporated, and getting seen became pay to play.
The gatekeepers determined what people saw, what they heard, and even what they created. Adapt or perish, they said.
Creative passion was replaced by restrained conformity. Writers target SEO. Musicians make viral TikTok videos. Artists design for the scroll, not for the wall.
Creative freedom is shrinking. Audiences are deprived.
Jailbreak
As bleak as it sounds, there are some holes in the prison wall:
Own your audience. Make it portable. Build an email list. Launch your own website.
Diversify by using multiple platforms that can generate income: Bandcamp. Medium. Substack. YouTube. Gumroad. Etsy.
Turn your fans into friends and vocal supporters. Cherish every subscriber, every email and every sale.
Stay creative and embrace thankfulness.
The Algorithm Prison isn’t inevitable. It is your time to break free. Don’t wait for platforms to hand back your creativity. You can build it outside the prison walls.
My Book
I became so immersed in this problem that I wrote a book about it. My goal is to hand you back your creativity so that you can watch the walls that confine you fall.
“The Algorithm Prison: How Creators Can Escape the Platforms That Control Discovery” is now available as an e-book on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and other distribution platforms worldwide.
I hope you enjoy it!
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The Algorithm Prison: How Creators Can Escape the Platforms That Control Discovery