🜁 When Algorithms Killed the Art of Being Human Online

Before algorithms ran the internet like puppet masters, people weren’t optimizing anything they were *living* online. Chaos. Creativity. Weirdness. Humanity. Back then, the web felt like a late-night diner where anyone could slide into the booth and start talking.

The Era Before the Feed

There was no “For You Page,” no machine learning model deciding whether your voice mattered. If you posted something and someone saw it, it’s because they *chose* to be there not because they were pushed into a dopamine tunnel.

Chat rooms were alive and messy in the best way. People talked because they wanted connection, not engagement. No metrics. No shadowbans. No algorithmic sorting. Just humans typing and hoping someone strange and wonderful typed back.

When Social Media Turned Into a Slot Machine

Then algorithms showed up quietly at first, then everywhere. Suddenly the internet wasn’t a conversation anymore. It was a competition. A scoreboard. A casino built on validation, engineered addiction, and carefully-measured visibility.

People stopped speaking from their soul and started speaking for the system. “What will the algorithm push?” replaced “What do I actually want to say?”

We traded authenticity for visibility. Depth for virality. Messiness for metrics.

The Loss No One Talks About

Algorithms didn’t just change how we post they rewired how we *think*. Now everyone writes like they’re performing. Everyone creates like they’re optimizing. Everyone speaks like they’re walking on eggshells, praying the machine god approves.

We forgot how to just… talk. How to be unpolished. How to ramble. How to show up as ourselves instead of a brand.

The Way Back Is Simple

If the algorithm is going to watch us, we don’t have to perform for it. We can glitch the system by being human again.

Post the weird things. Say the unfiltered things. Share the moments that feel too real for a feed. Not for metrics but for the people who miss the old internet too.

Because the internet isn’t dead.

It’s just waiting for us to stop acting like robots and start communicating like humans again.