I ran an experiment last week. For a few days, I forced myself to only check X’s "For You" tab instead of my curated "Following" feed.
I wanted to understand what everyone’s talking about when they complain about algorithmic timelines.
The result? I literally felt my brain rotting in real-time.
The Attention Economy’s Dirty Secret
Here’s what nobody tells you about algorithmic feeds: they’re not designed to inform you. They’re designed to keep you scrolling.
Every post that shows up in "For You" passed through a filter with exactly one goal — maximize engagement. Not education. Not truth. Not value. Just eyeball time and ad revenue.
The algorithm doesn’t care if what you’re reading is AI slop, political rage bait, or manufactured controversy. If it keeps you on the platform for another 30 seconds, it wins.
What I Actually Saw
My feed became an information dump of:
AI-generated "viral" posts with zero substance
Political provocations designed to trigger emotional responses
Weird posts that somehow became "bangers" through pure algorithmic manipulation
Content from accounts I never followed and would never choose to follow
The worst part? I could feel it working on me. The dopamine hits. The urge to engage with obvious bait. The slow erosion of my ability to focus on anything meaningful.
Taking Back Control
I’m back on the "Following" tab permanently now. And honestly, it feels like coming up for air.
Yes, I might miss some "important" viral moment. I don’t care. The people I chose to follow will surface anything actually worth knowing.
Sometimes algorithmic discovery is useful — I’ll admit that. Finding new voices or unexpected perspectives has value. But making it your default mode of consuming information? That’s outsourcing your entire information diet to a system optimized for addiction, not insight.
Your timeline should serve you. Not the other way around.
Choose your feeds. Choose your sources. Choose what gets your attention.
Because if you don’t make that choice, the algorithm will make it for you—and its interests are not aligned with yours.
Leave a Reply