What Your Feed Is Teaching You

On influence, awareness, and the price of unexamined consumption

As someone who works in social media marketing, I want to encourage you to be careful about what you consume on social media.

Algorithms are not neutral. They can be a tool for good - or for manipulation.

They can quietly shape what you believe before you’ve fully researched it. They can influence decisions you haven’t consciously thought through. And most of the time, they do this subtly.

Over the years, I’ve watched social media platforms change.

What began as a way to share updates has slowly evolved into something else entirely. Today, most platforms function less like social spaces and more like media machines, designed to extract as much attention as possible from every user, every day.

For those unfamiliar with how this works: nearly all major social platforms are algorithm-driven.

If you engage with a type of content once, you’ll likely see more like it. Over time, your feed becomes a mirror - not of reality, but of whatever holds your attention most reliably.

For some people, this can be pretty harmless. Funny videos and mindless scrolling. It can be a brief escape.

For others, it becomes dangerous.

Engage with a political post from one side, and you’re likely to be shown more content reinforcing that same perspective. The platform isn’t interested in truth - it’s interested in retention. The result is a content bubble designed to keep you scrolling, consuming, and emotionally invested.

And that content doesn’t just inform - it can persuade.

It can nudge people toward beliefs, actions, and identities they may never have arrived at on their own - at least not consciously.

This shift didn’t happen accidentally.

I’ve seen this play out in my own life - in a way that was genuinely positive.

Before I ever started my fitness journey - before losing 60 pounds and getting in shape - my social media feeds were filled with a very specific kind of content. Young men posting workouts. Motivational clips. Vlog-style workout videos paired with voiceovers pulled from old speeches - men training alone in dim gyms, early mornings, grainy lifts - all urging discipline, effort, and relentless action.

I don’t believe my decision to change my health came only from some sudden burst of willpower. I think my algorithm played a role. It reinforced an identity I hadn’t fully stepped into yet, but was slowly being invited toward.

In that case, the algorithm worked for good. It nudged me toward healthier habits, consistency, and self-respect. The content I consumed didn’t paralyze me - it pushed me.

That experience is why I don’t believe algorithms are inherently evil. They are amplifiers. They strengthen whatever direction you’re already leaning - whether that direction leads toward growth or decay.

Early social platforms measured success by connection. Modern platforms measure success by time spent. That single shift changed everything.

Social media platforms survive by selling advertising space. The longer you stay on the platform, the more ads they can show you. The more ads they show you, the more money they make. From a business perspective, it’s efficient. From a human perspective, it’s concerning.

The incentive structure rewards whatever keeps you engaged - not whatever makes you wiser.

Something that concerns me most recently is how this intersects with modern activism.

Speaking out against injustice is necessary. Moral conviction matters. But I can’t help wondering how much of what we’re seeing today is conviction - and how much is influence.

How many people are showing up simply because a feed told them to? How many have confused participation with purpose? How many believe that volume equals truth?

It reminds me of a question my mom used to ask: “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?” I used to joke and say yes.

Lately, I’m not so sure it’s a joke anymore.

I’ve watched journalists interview people at rallies - asking basic questions about why they’re there, what they believe, what they’re advocating for. Far too often, the answers are vague. Emotional and unexamined. Loud and often unrooted.

“Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, and movements, it is the rule.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

All of this is to say: if we’re not careful about what we consume, we risk becoming misdirected.

What you watch can shape what you think.
What you engage with can shape what you believe.
What you repeat shapes who you become.

If you spend hours a day consuming the same kind of content, it will influence you - whether you want it to or not.

Attention is not passive. It is formative.

Choose carefully where you give it.