October 28, 2025
Instagram has changed their algorithm, and now my feeds are full of people complaining about the lack of reach and how this affects their business.
Is anyone truly surprised? It’s the same constant cry I’ve heard for years from artists, creators, and anyone trying to make a living online — myself included.
A big issue a lot of us have fallen into is thinking about Social Media as the channel of communication of the Internet. It’s become so ubiquitous in our lives that we feel almost entitled for it to work for us.
But here’s the hard truth: Instagram and all the other platforms don’t owe us shit.
They’re not public infrastructure, even though they’re “free”. They’re capitalist ventures with their own goals — the main one being making a profit — and for as long as your business strategy depends on them, the platforms will be the ones in full control of how things work.
You could argue that We The Users should be treated fairly, rather than being turned into peasants in some sort of technofeudalist nightmare. But again, is anyone truly surprised when we’re not?
How many hours are we collectively spending in creating content for the platforms we so hope will be so kind? Content that by design is perishable, expendable and, if you’ll forgive me for speaking harshly, almost worthless.
Imagine if, instead, we’d put that effort into our own platforms, our own channels of communication?
Where, rather than being caught in non-stopping hamster wheel of creation under the thread of being thrown into algorithmic oblivion, we could be sure that every single effort we made would compound overtime.
Where the level of agency we’d gain from this compounding would grow way beyond what our dependency on Social Media platforms can provide.
I’m not talking about ditching Social Media entirely. Not yet, at least. I’m talking about changing the way we think about it.
Using Social Media with intent means integrating it as part of a broader system designed to meet our particular goals, instead of simply posting to it regularly and hoping somethings hits.
Be strategic with it. Use it to test ideas, grow an audience outside of the platforms, and deepen relationships. Remember the algorithm is just a tool for distribution, not your boss.
Besides, the attention we get through Social Media is borrowed. We don’t own it. As such, we don’t get much say into what and how we get it. The real strategy is to use social as an on-ramp toward your owned channels.
So as hard as it might seem to build your own thing at first, thinking long term, it’s the only way you’ll be protected from the algorithm shifts.
Sergio Camalich Morales
I am Mexican Graphic Designer, Photographer and Artist, writing about the underlying craziness of reality, and other stuff.
When done right, a website has the potential to become the center point of a vast network, the main hub where all your efforts can be focused towards reaching a goal. Working tirelessly to spread your message, services and products.
It’s easy to get stuck inside a hamster wheel of *doing* when making things on the internet.
Buy into the systems, do the courses, get all the help you need. But at the end of the day, don’t take somebody else’s path — as valuable as their insights and experiences might be — over your own.