Idea vs Algorithm
Dear Erin,
It’s paralyzing.
You know you have something to share. You have an inkling that the aggregation of the sharing is in itself a thing. Something that could be big - or at least big enough to secure your place in the world.
But the sharing is both the product and the marketing of the product.
Now, instead of focusing on what secret should I let the world in on today, there’s a whole list of ancillary issues:
Now I need an image. And the image needs a caption.
Or, in your world, when the image / video is the thing, you need to edit it. And it needs a caption.
Maybe a hashtag. Wait, I need 5-10 sector-relevant hashtags?
Do you have the tone, colors, keywords, voice and personality all on brand?
Everyone is saying to run it through AI to tighten it. Wait, what?
In fact, check your brand persona with AI. (Remember when ChatGPT told me I should start hand-drawing all the images for this website in order to stay on brand?)
Watch the time of day - don’t do all this work and post when no one is online. (How is that even possible - NO ONE is online? Seems to me everyone is online)
Frequency - the algorithm is watching. Do this just the right number of times each week. Not too many, not too few.
Oh and don’t forget to cross-post on different platforms. But make sure you don’t do so in a way that you look lazy (like sharing Instagram stuff on FB without editing the @mentions which FB doesn’t recognize). Change the voice to appeal to the different platform personas.
Did I mention that your image should really be a video if you want anyone to pay attention?
The idea you originally wanted to share becomes wrapped in so many layers it feels like a Russian stacking doll.
I’m really proud of you for learning that you needed to post all your videos on a platform you weren’t originally prioritizing…and then actually DOING IT last week. It took time, editing, word-smithing and intentionality. Nice job. I like the way you accepted the need to cross-post, without compromising the content of what you were posting.
I myself am struggling. I get these ideas but before I can truly think them through, I get caught up in all the things that sharing the idea entails. Sometimes, I lose the idea entirely. Other times, I hit a brick wall because I can’t think of - never mind create - an image that I can use to post alongside the text manifestation of the idea.
Is it even possible to grow an idea to maturity before worrying about how it is going to present online? I need to figure that out - otherwise, I am limiting the ideas at inception. I wouldn’t want you to stop pursuing a bit of choreography because you were concerned about how it would play in an instagram reel….
Ideas first. Online second. Let’s commit to creating compelling ideas first. Then let’s fit them into big tech’s various social platforms.
Love,
Mom
PS: I’ll go crazy if I follow ChatGPT’s recommendation that I hand-draw all images that go along with these blog posts. Cute idea, and I get the mother-daughter connection, but OMG. Now I have to learn ProCreate in order to do a blog post? Yeah, no. Every once in awhile, maybe. How about I just use the “draw” feature to scribble some text on a Canva image?
