Praying to the Algorithm Gods

by Sharon Kayne

I never used to worry about algorithms (or, as my way-cooler-than-me niece says, “the algo”). Algorithms are, after all, obscure numerical equations that I’ve neither understood nor cared about. I only studied math in school as long as was required, so I never got to the level where algos are taught. To say I don’t like math is to oversimplify things. I’ve always hated math. Seeing as how I made my living as a writer/editor, it hasn’t been much of an issue. But now, not only are algorithms the insidious underpinning of my new professional life, they are killing me.

Somewhere along the way, the people who determine how the internet works discovered that algorithms could come in pretty handy. Social media algorithms don’t just tell you what to show your users, they have the added benefit of keeping your users engaged on your platform—long after they should have logged off, stepped away, and embraced life with the real people around them.

Sure, I get that. It makes sense to show your users more of what they are already enjoying. The longer our eyeballs are on your platform, the more advertisements we are seeing, and the more money you’re making. And that’s what it’s all about, right?

Right. Until you’re on the other side of the equation and you’re trying to get the algorithms—over which you have no control—to work on your behalf. To show your content to strangers who might find it interesting.

My first experience with this side of the algo was with the book reviews on Amazon. The more reviews your book has, the more likely Amazon will show it to readers who are browsing for their next book. How do you get book reviews? You have to have readers. How do you find readers? You have to have book reviews. It’s the classic Catch-22. And it caught me.

Then, I heard that writing a blog is a great way to improve your online digital footprint. “I can do that,” I thought. I did it for six years when I wrote the humor column “Citizen Kayne” for an alternative weekly newspaper. It was not only an award-winning column, but it was the most popular regular feature in the paper. I had thousands and thousands of readers. I even got fan mail (and the occasional hate mail). So, I reactivated my column as a blog, “Citizen Kayne Strikes Again,” thinking I’d have no trouble gaining readers.

The big difference between my print column in the early aughts and my online blog in the 2020s? The social media algo. This algo has the same Catch-22 insanity: if you want more people to see your post, you need people to engage with it. The only way to get people to engage with your post is for more people to see it. Yeah… um, how do I do that?

I’ve relied primarily on Facebook to promote my blog posts. And on every post I ask people to please share and like my post before they click on the link to my blog. You figure that’s something your friends will be happy to do for you, right? Even if they don’t bother to read your blog. I wouldn’t know, because I only ever get a few likes on my FB posts and I think I’ve only had one ‘share’ in the year since I started posting. I don’t know if it’s because my friends don’t know or care about the algo or if the bleeding algo is keeping my post from my friends. Or maybe it’s just that my friends have only been telling me I’m a talented writer because they don’t have the heart to tell me honestly that I stink. I don’t know.

Thanks to the FB algorithm, I have failed entirely to grow my blog readership over the last year. My blog posts still average about a dozen views, which tells me that my readership hasn’t grown beyond my family and friends. And as delighted as I am to amuse and entertain my family and friends, that’s not the reason I’m writing the blog. I’m writing the blog to gather potential readers for my rom-com series, which I plan to release next year. In a bid to find more readers, I’ve expanded my blog to Substack. That’s helped, but it’s another freaking algo I have to try and break through.

The only thing I know for sure about the algo drama is that I’ve always hated math, and now, it seems, the universe is telling me that math hates me right back. Honestly, that explanation makes as much sense as any other. Perhaps it’s time to start praying to the algo gods. I’ll give it a shot but I’m still open to other ideas.

I post my blog on Sundays. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Substack, or sign up for my monthly newsletter (here). Also, please follow me on Amazon, Goodreads and BookBub.

Buy my historical romances, This Restless Sea, The Green Silk Gown, and Variations on a Romance, at Amazon.