steeped by samia no.41 // contented vol.1 | 07.25.25
“F*ck the algorithm” —RM in All Day (with Tablo), Indigo (2022)
Growing up, summers were for the library, sprawled in the children’s section, starting one book right after the next. My siblings and I would get a stack of I Spy books and stare at them for what felt like hours, sucked into the beguiling world of 1990s / early 2000s ephemera.
I flipped through these books recently at the library, transported by the sharp feelings evoked with each page turn. There is a calm narrative within the artful clutter of objects: primary-color striped toys nestled on a shelf, a mysterious plethora of masquerade party objects, the Michael’s Valentine’s Day craft section exploded onto a table, a dizzying domino-like scene of mirrors and circus animal figurines, a stormy background with a streak of sunlight that I sometimes think about.
In the micro-worlds of I Spy, everything works together in such a seamless, coherent, and dreamy way.
I came across a PEOPLE Magazine Interview with I Spy co-creator Walter Wick, and he shares some details on how he constructed some of these reality-suspending two-page spreads (with a touch of danger involved,,,). I think about this fertile creative space of molding highly detailed pictures that, in turn, become a meditative activity for children and adults alike.
And it’s no surprise that a recent micro-trend in product marketing attempted to mimic I Spy, a reinvention of the flat-lay photo.
I’ve decided to start here when thinking about content online. Like, sure, you can take this in the “we used to be able to focus and exist without needing stimulation from our phones” direction. But, when I think about it, the connection that surfaces is:
The organized clutter of content on the internet is increasingly losing its semblance.
I’m not the first to admit that I’m both deeply fascinated and disheartened with how we’ve come to think of and create content on the internet. ‘Content’ has become the catch-all word to describe videos, articles, podcasts, images, and more that make up our social media feeds and internet scrolls. We’re beginning to see more perspectives on “offline-ness”, combatting “phone addiction”, and call outs of the rampant “content slop” all around.
I’m curious about the state of content on the internet, especially when it comes to emerging brands, both individuals and businesses.
With 5+ years writing and creating content online as a writer and freelance DTC business consultant, I’ve seen various sides of this prism that I’d love to share with you further: from moving through the uncanniness of personal branding, to creating emotional resonance on social media, to contending with decades worth of digital files on our phones and computers, to not losing our humanity online.
‘Contented’ is a series I’ve created to explore this nebula of content online. This is an intro post of sorts (read: rant on the state of it all) and a companion to Steeped no.23: “Can we extract ourselves from the digital world?” My goal is for this series to be part social listening and part informative. Please feel free to suggest topics you want me to explore! Okay, now, let’s get into the rants.
For people who rely on social media for their incomes, it’s an increasingly terrible time. Scratch that; it’s a terrible time, in general.
And for independent creatives and small business owners who are frequently speaking up about Gaza right now, their livelihoods are impacted beyond algorithmic shadow-banning (more on this in the next section).
I often go back to Ria Chopra’s incisive piece on “the perils of classifying everything on the internet as content” for Vogue India. She writes:
“Today, the vacuousness of this term [content] is a direct result of the notoriously fickle internet landscape and an all-powerful algorithm. There is a need to keep creating something, anything, to stay relevant—and this ‘thing’ is not defined by the creator, but by the platform itself.”
— Ria Chopra for Vogue India
There’s a widespread negotiation between doing the content creation thing and following these platforms’ “best practices” so that your content reaches real people, while also reckoning with how all of it sucks and is not sustainable. Among many things—so many bots, so many ads, and people tend to act increasingly disingenuous the more they create content with the intention of staying in the algorithm’s good graces.
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Throughout the years, I’ve spoken to many creatives, digital marketers, and small business owners who must navigate the choppy waters of the internet for their work. Here are some themes that have come up—
#1: It’s challenging to pull the right levers to: a.) create the content and b.) have it be seen and acknowledged.
You put so much time and effort into creating not only good content, but content that gets people to click it. You have to put on your digital marketing hat, learn how the algorithm works, how to do community building, how to have the right ‘hook,’ how to edit just the right amount without it looking too polished.
Maybe you’re also dabbling in different social media platforms, building your personal brand on LinkedIn and cross-posting your storytelling and experimenting to see what works best and when. You often have to put your face on things for the algorithm to care, re-assess your boundaries online, and even then, maybe being in front of the camera just isn’t your thing.
Oh, and if you’re doing something creative with your work and have to post about it on social media, it may take years and years of consistency to see results online.
And that leads me to my next point—
#2: You’ll likely have to sink your limited budget into Meta ads and marketing tools.
It’s disheartening to hear from small biz founders how much money they have to spend on Meta ads / boosting posts and marketing tools. The hundreds add up to thousands spent, month by month. It’s an inevitable part of the standard marketing plan, but it doesn’t always yield results. I’ve heard from different small businesses: the Meta ads and boosting works for some time and then the traction stops. Or maybe a post gets content views, but doesn’t really lead to people clicking your website, hitting subscribe, or buying your product. You dream to be spending that money in more creative and thoughtful ways, i.e. hiring cool team members or creating a digital platform of your own, but it’s just not feasible at the moment to keep up.
#3: If you’re walking the walk of your values online, you might get shadow-banned.
— Because you’re operating as a real person for your community and not a content machine for the algorithm.
Community organizers who I admire on the internet—who have very little choice but to to use these social media platforms—face so much disrespect on the internet and by these platforms. When speaking up about Gaza and other communities facing violence, people literally have to do things like post a selfie so they don’t get shadow-banned. Not only that, their lives and livelihoods are being systematically disrupted. Some are sharing that they’re facing rejection and ghosting from institutions, whether it’s grants or job opportunities. Some are facing doxxing. It’s fked up.
It’s truly the community that they build, made up of real people and interactions, that are helping to keep them grounded and afloat. When you notice a community organizer or organization is being shadow-banned, it’s important to share their work, keep their page notifications on, and support with your dollars if/when you can.
On the topic of our human responsibility as creative people, Fariha Róisín wrote a poignant Substack post titled “On Letting (Your Own) Art Revive You”—please give it a read and share!
I’m ending the rants here; I could keep going and going. But I’m saving them for future posts, I promise.
I spend a lot of my time online. And as much as it is a distorted and cluttered place, I’ve also met and maintained so many life-long friends who live around the world. It’s also how I generate my $$$, too.
Through this series and on a day-to-day level, I hope to participate in social media with more intention and discernment. And just be more me.
And I hope to continue to wonder and put language to the question of: Why do what we do online?
End Note: Gaza is facing severe conditions of hunger with intense Israhelli blockades of food and provisions. May Allah (SWT) grant patience, refuge, and sustenance to Gaza and grant safety to Gazan journalists at this time.
Please share and support these orgs and more: Workshops 4 Gaza, Refaat Mobile Library, Gaza Champions, The Sameer Project.
— S.A.
💫 Catch Up:
07.10.25 | Read this when you feel like: Time isn’t on your side
steeped by samia no.40: Oh, to be 27 and reflect on the complexities of time—while acknowledging that you’re only scraping the surface of it all.
💌 About This Blog:
Steeped by Samia is a space where I can simmer on thoughts & curiosities about life, liminal spaces, digital culture, & more. Far too often, my writing ideas fizzle out in energy; I never get to see them to their full potential. While building my rhythm with writing, I want to share these stories with you.
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