MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.
Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1513481
"The algorithm is flawed!" Karen X Cheng Social Media Video Artist Taking a seat in a gray metal folding chair at center state, she introduced herself, “Hi. I’m Karen and I’m a social media addict,” a touching confession from one of INC’s 30 Under 30 and Adweek’s Creative 100 whose work has received upwards of 500 million views. Karen X Cheng went on to explain that she became addicted to the hits her work received and her dependency on the mysterious site algorithms that produced them. In true 12-step fashion, she described the incredible high of a successful post, followed by the crash that made her want even more. True, it motivated a great deal of work. But it began to drain her of drive to create art that originally inspired her. It became a battle between, in her words, “the algorithm vs. the art.” What she discovered is, the algorithm is flawed!” It is something that responds to the quantitative power of extremes, the craving for “mosts” on social media sites. She revealed some of the defenses she’s used to arm herself in an algorithmic world, understanding that it is something that can’t be escaped if you need to make a living. But over the years, she came up with some valuable tools for her survival that helped her stay true (mostly) to her creative core. Though it appears to be a modern-day problem, it is one that true artists of all kinds have always had to overcome. Ms. Cheng’s expressed her philosophies, what she has learned over her years of ups and downs, with splendid and moving clarity. In fact, they go far beyond what is needed to stay sane as a social media creative. Ms. Cheng also talked about how boredom can be a valuable part of the creative process and the infinite scrolling that social media offers can suppress that. Taking a break from screens, even one day a week, a shabbat from screens, as she learned from a friend, helped her, as hard as it was at first. These are just a sampling of the experience and suggestions she shared (she would probably bristle if it was labeled “advice”). Appropriately, she concluded with the words, “Thank you for your attention. It is such a scarce currency these days.”