When I use TikTok and Instagram a lot, I start caring more about really superficial things: trends, new clothes, celebrity gossip, and other people’s dating lives. I get horrible FOMO, and I feel bad about my life after seeing so many amazing travels, people visiting places I can only afford to dream about.

And, let me tell you something: you don’t need to believe in the law of attraction to accept one basic truth. Just like you are what you eat and who you hang out with, you are what you pay attention to .

It’s like the email chains that used to circulate back in 2008, sending our parents into a pit of shared mild psychosis. Right now, we make fun of boomers who believe the AI-generated videos they see on Facebook are real, but are we really that different when we believe everything a stranger tells us about ourselves online?

How many of my favorite movies did I watch because I saw a TikTok about them? How many books did I read because the algorithm kept pushing them at me? How many of the things I wear truly represent who I am and what makes me feel comfortable, and how many did I buy just because the Internet convinced me to? Or how much music did I listen to only... See more

Why does the Internet need to pathologize every single aspect of human nature?

Sure, past experiences have made me colder and more wary, but that doesn’t mean I’m ‘avoidant.’ It just means I’m human. It means I have let my experiences shape me, and that I’m growing older and changing.

It’s like the email chains that used to circulate back in 2008, sending our parents into a pit of shared mild psychosis. Right now, we make fun of boomers who believe the AI-generated videos they see on Facebook are real, but are we really that different when we believe everything a stranger tells us about ourselves online?

So, no. I don’t ‘hate’ the algorithm because it is a reflection of who I am.

I hate it because it has the power to manipulate the kind of person I could become.