Content (noun) (Pronounced kɒntent): Information made available.
Content (adjective) (Pronounced-kəntent): A state of satisfaction.
Two meanings; same word.
Here we are consuming more content than ever, yet somehow feeling less content than ever.
Tell me something: Are you content?
Are you satisfied? Fulfilled? Or just lost in an endless loop of content—swiping, clicking, reacting, consuming — while a sneaky little algorithm quietly decides what you’ll care about today?
Take the BeerBiceps fiasco, for example. It is everywhere, dominating feeds, sparking debates, igniting Twitter wars. But step back for a moment — was it really that important? Or was it just another case of the internet deciding for us what we should care about?
Comedian Gaurav Kapoor probably describes it best (through comedy obviously- so that you won’t take it seriously)- maybe it was not such a big issue after all, but the hurry in which Ranveer apologised probably made people attack him more. Maybe he tried to play with sentiments once again, instead of just doing what’s good for him.
That’s the point, not just the apology, even the spirituality, the crass jokes, if we try to just milk the algorithm, we will eventually someday misuse it just the way its with any addiction- one misstep is always possible. My view is that if we rig the algorithm, someday it will rig our lives back too- isn’t it already happening.
Social media outrage cycles work like this:
Drama happens → People react → Algorithms amplify → Everyone loses their minds.
A week later? Poof. It’s forgotten. The time that spend on it- was it worth it?
We spent hours dissecting, debating, and getting worked up over something that, in the grand scheme of things, might not even matter.
How did we get here?
Once upon a time, content was simple.
Town criers shouted the news.
Newspapers delivered headlines.
TV anchors read the evening bulletin.
People received information passively—they read, they listened, they watched. No likes. No comments. No retweets. No algorithm deciding what they should see next.
Then, the internet happened. And suddenly, we weren’t just consuming content—we were creating it, curating it, competing for attention with it and then rigging the algorithm to make you view their content more. And that’s when everything changed.
From Sensational & Breaking News hook with jarring background music that TV media used to a subtle in the face bombarding of content - things got worse without we even realising it.
Social media turned all of us into content junkies. We didn’t just want news; we wanted personalized news. We didn’t just want entertainment; we wanted on-demand, bite-sized, dopamine-packed entertainment. The content creators rigged the system to increase their viewership and indirectly messing and re wiring our minds.
They knew what they were doing. They watched how long we hovered, what we clicked, what made us pause for just one extra second. Then—boom. More of that. Keep scrolling. Don’t leave. Stay right here.
At some point, we stopped choosing our content. Our content started choosing us. Our content creator started choosing what we watch.
Algorithms feeding these platforms aren’t just watching what you search. They’re watching:
How long you linger on a post.
What type of content makes you scroll faster.
Which videos you almost watch but skip halfway.
Every move, every pause, every flick of your thumb—it’s all data.
And data is power.
The more platforms know about you, the better they can control what you see. The more they control what you see, the more they shape what you think matters. That, right there is the problem.
Because when algorithms prioritize engagement over accuracy, the content that rises to the top isn’t always the most important—it’s the most outrageous, clickable, and controversial. It is just a race of more followers, more likes the worth of the content isn’t a parameter at all!
The problem that I am stating here is not that algorithm is manipulating us, it is we who are manipulating the algorithm.
Ever wondered about how ‘Influence’ changed?
Once upon a time, actual experts shaped narratives. Scientists, journalists, philosophers—people who spent years mastering their fields.
Now?
A 20-year-old with a ring light and a talent for viral captions can have more influence than a Nobel Prize-winning researcher.
And we listen. Because numbers matter more than nuance now!
I recall speaking to a Gen Z individual about a music artist. The first thing he did was Google the artist on YouTube, only to conclude that he wasn’t a star based on his number of followers. In our days, a music or art recommendation from a friend didn’t need validation through album sales or followers. And that to me is a deeply flawed way to judge anything.
I wonder what is the real price of all this.
The endless scrolling..
The constant comparison..
The pressure to curate a perfect life online..
The pressure to produce engaging content fosters a culture of oversharing and inauthenticity, as individuals strive to meet perceived societal standards..
We live in a time where content creators, I mean “influencers”—have as much power as traditional media houses. Sometimes even more..
That power comes with zero checks and balances! Traditional media, for all its flaws, had editors, fact-checkers, and accountability (at least in theory). Social media? It rewards virality over verification.
The result?
Half-truths spread like wildfire.
Speculation gets mistaken for insight.
Echo chambers reinforce what we already believe, instead of challenging us.
And we?
We keep consuming, because the cycle is addictive.
All of this in my head raises the question - Can We Take Back Control?
Jack Dorsey believes the future of social media should be more user-driven—where we can control our own algorithms instead of being controlled by them. Will that get the creators to build content more virtuously? Maybe!
It’s a nice thought. Let’s be honest though—would we even use that power if we had it? Somewhere, deep down, we love the chaos.
We say we want better content, but our clicks tell another story. If thought-provoking journalism got the same engagement as a crass roast comedy we’d see more of it. But that’s not what happens.
At the end of the day, we don’t just consume content. Content consumes us.
One of the key takeaways from this fiasco isn’t just what was said but how it was received. Social media algorithms amplify content that sparks emotional reactions—outrage, admiration, or conspiracy-fuelled curiosity. In the race for views and shares, sensational, polarizing narratives rise to the top. Deep down, are we happy as a generation? When someone posts about the nostalgia of the pre-internet era, doesn’t it make you wonder if those days were better? At the risk of sounding like a grandfather I believe our minds were freer, with more space to process information and cherish it.
Brings me back to more questions
Are we
Happy with how we consume content?
In control of what we watch, read, and believe?
Aware of how algorithms shape our worldview?
Or are we just floating in the stream, letting the current take us wherever it pleases?
Because the truth is, content will never stop coming.
But being content? That’s something we actually have to work for!
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