InstaScam
I will be the first one to admit that I know little to nothing about algorithms that feed our daily consciousness.
Yes, I have a Twitter, oops X, account and I rarely use it. I have no clue how to interact with it. I barely know how to link this column to it so I don’t bother.I have 4800 followers and I am guessing they started when I was on the trading floor and doing daily hits with CNBC but I really do not know. BTW, as a little personal opinion and I will stand by this forever. The purchase of Twitter was the worst investment by anyone ever. There will be no return on it and Elon Musk, as smart as he is, let his ego get in the way on this one. Also, renaming it X was by far the worst rebranding in American History. Period.
Enough about that. As I have said, I am a social media Neanderthal. I have a Linkedin account and I actually go on it almost every day to see whats happening in the world of business and see if anyone is looking for an experienced CEO to rescue their company. I am not on Facebook, never have been, never will be. The people I know and I care about I am in touch with them personally and I don’t need the World to know that I am walking my dog or baking a nice focaccia.
Which brings me to Instagram. Originally, I signed up to see what my kids were up to and follow a couple of friends. I still have not posted one thing on my Instagram account and most likely won’t. It’s just not me. What I originally liked about Instagram was that people were all posting happy pictures. Newborn babies, great vacations, awesome meals and lots of drinking. I was ok with that. What’s wrong with seeing people happy? Nothing. It certainly did not make me feel any less of a person because others were trekking the Andes and I was walking my dog around my neighborhood. Good for them I say!
When Instagram introduced reels, I was fascinated. I went on Tik Tok a few times and it became stupid. Stupid dances, half finished videos that never seemed to go anywhere. On top of that, the Chinese government was surveilling every where I went. I was being followed through my phone. Enough of that I said and I just switched over to Reels.
I have no clue how or why things pop up on my reels. I may have liked something and I guess that little algo just started feeding more and more of like minded videos. Which is fine and the more things I liked the more variety I had.
Every morning for over a year, I would scroll through Reels and find funny videos. Every morning I would get out of bed laughing. Really, whats better than that? Cat and dog videos, Seinfeld snippets, and Adam Sandler outtakes. All hilarious.
So, why am I calling out Instagram?
Well, I also do have serious moments and I do enjoy watching Charlie Kirk dressing down some obnoxious Ultra liberal or listening to Ben Shapiro explain that yes, there are just two sexes. These were enjoyable because they were spot on and both men are calm and intelligent and they make excellent points and are never flustered by the baiting that their opponents try. I liked those videos. Yet, in the past 3 months only one video from some other right wing fella popped up. That’s it.
I just wonder if this is Instagram doing a little censorship. I hope not.
In all fairness, you can search for any conservative commentator you like and they are all on there so they are not stopping you but they aren’t feeding you either. Is this the first step of the powers that be at Meta (another dumb rebranding) to quell the noise and keep the tribes under control. Again, I hope not.
At the end of the day, I will continue to go on Reels and look at unbelievable homes and great DIY projects along with all those new bread recipes. Maybe my algo knows that I may be getting tired of all the debates and divisive conversations people are having. I just wish it knew I am getting tired of all those totally fake Instagram models as well.