blogfyre
What a silly name for a blog.
Screen Time: Controlling Your Algorithm
Let’s face it, spending time on social media in 2024 is kind of a nightmare. You never see half the things your friends post, it’s riddled with ads, and it’s impossible to log on without seeing something downright upsetting. It’s easy to feel like you don’t control the content of your feed. Luckily, that’s not the case.
Grabbing your personal algorithm by the reins is actually easier than you might think. Once you understand what drives an algorithm, you can pave a path in whichever direction you choose. So what drives an algorithm?
Screen Time: The Algorithm
Across all social media, in every single app, the algorithm exists for one reason, to keep users’ attention. See chronological feeds have an explicit problem, they end. A user viewing posts chronologically will eventually catch up to where they left off on their last scroll. But, if that user sees posts based on their interest, and is introduced to content from accounts they don’t follow, they can scroll forever.
So what does the algorithm want? It wants users to stay on the app. Forget everything else, every rumor you’ve ever heard and any suspicion you’ve ever had. Algorithm want screen time. Period.
Screen Time: What Is It?
Today’s word is, “Screen Time.” Can you say “Screen Time?” Jokes aside, can you define “Screen Time?” And if you can define it, do you know how “Screen Time” affects social media algorithms or why it matters to you? Heads up, that was the last time I’ll put screen time in quotes or capitalize it.
Let’s start at the beginning. Webster’s dictionary defines screen time as: The amount of time someone spends using a device with a screen, such as a smartphone, tablet, computer or television. Pretty self-explanatory, right? Screen time is the amount of time spent looking at a screen.
coming soon: an in-depth look at screen time
This week, I’ll be running a series on Blogfyre aimed at demystifying the concept of “Screen Time.” Why? Because understanding “Screen Time” is the first step to understanding “The Algorithm.”
This is nothing #1
Welcome to This Is Nothing, a special series on Blogfyre devoted to examining content marketing opportunities and solutions. If you’d like to submit something that you think might be Nothing, email it to us with the subject line “Is this Nothing?” and we may feature it here!
In my many years marketing on the internet, I’ve seen a myriad of tactics that are Nothing. So what does it mean to be Nothing? Well, I’m glad you asked. I deem things as Nothing when they:
Building a one-match fire
I was a camp counselor for years. Here’s the thing about being a camp counselor: you build a lot of fires. You build so many fires that you start to differentiate between their types.
give me an hour of your time
One hour, that’s all I ask. One hour and I will recontextualize EVERYTHING about how you market your business, event or offering. I promise.
