Consumers hold a superpower that scares their algorithmic overlords to death

Want to take a flamethrower and a rocket launcher to your algorithmic overlords? Then you need to start exerting this lost superpower.

I hate algorithms. They’re one of the worst inventions ever. It’s one reason I rolled with prioritizing my own direct sales store over Amazon, relegating the latter to a simple discovery platform.

In the early phase when I made this switch, I barely got any sales, downloads, and engagement. It lasted that way for months, mainly because readers are so conditioned to buy from Amazon — a Big Tech company.

You’ll also see readers and authors complain loudly about Amazon moving the goalposts at will. Sometimes, it leaves both the producer and consumer worse off. Hence, the myth that “Big Tech is forcing this or that down our throats.”

The wise words of Ludwig von Mises

Some go as far as to call this capitalism, even if it’s a misguided claim. Ludwig von Mises, one of capitalism’s biggest champions, drove this point home when he said:

“In the market economy the consumers are supreme. Consumers determine, by their buying or abstention from buying, what should be produced, by whom and how, of what quality and in what quantity.

“The entrepreneurs, capitalists, and landowners who fail to satisfy in the best possible and cheapest way the most urgent of the not yet satisfied wishes of the consumers are forced to go out of business and forfeit their preferred position. In business offices and in laboratories the keenest minds are busy fructifying the most complex achievements of scientific research for the production of ever better implements and gadgets for people who have no inkling of the scientific theories that make the fabrication of such things possible.

“The bigger an enterprise is, the more it is forced to adjust its production activities to the changing whims and fancies of the masses, its masters. The fundamental principle of capitalism is mass production to supply the masses. It is the patronage of the masses that makes enterprises grow into bigness. The common man is supreme in the market economy. He is the customer “who is always right.”

This holds true today regardless of the existence of Big Tech

If you want any evidence that Mises’ take still rings true today, just look at the backlash Cracker Barrel faced when it briefly rebranded. Following massive public backlash, Cracker Barrel had no choice but to scrap its rebrand days after announcing it, something I took a deep dive into at my author site.

While Big Tech companies aren’t Cracker Barrel, the same concept rings true. We don’t need to rely on Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, or any company I may have missed. Consumers, whether they realize it or not, hold the cards in what are still market economies in the West — despite the sheer interventionism taking place.

That’s a fact Big Tech doesn’t want you to realize. Right now, they’re happy because you, the consumer, are blinded by this fact.

You can stick a dagger in the algorithmic overlords

If a creator has an independent platform not tied to Big Tech, use it. Many YouTubers have Locals channels. Other creators have their own self-hosted sites, newsletters, and direct sales stores — I have all three of these, and the article you’re reading here is also published to that self-hosted site shortly after it goes live.

To give them (and me) more support, you only need to check out those stores as opposed to browsing Big Tech discovery hubs like Amazon. Or, pay a small fee to view your favorite YouTubers on those outlets like Locals, or use the Brave search engine instead of Google.

I hear a lot of people complain about Big Tech, but see a surprisingly low number of people actually taking action — and the latter is how you limit Big Tech’s power.

Yes, Amazon is convenient. That’s exactly why it wins. But nobody is making you buy products on Amazon. And if the creator uses Amazon exclusively, then go find another creator who doesn’t. It’s how you send a signal as a consumer, and the same applies for anything you can think of.

Always remember that, ultimately, you hold the power. The algorithms and people in charge don’t want you to know that, and they’re going to assume you won’t. Or, maybe you will, but they’ll assume you’ll be there, buying from their convenience outlets anyway.

The concept also applies to smaller companies with Big Tech potential

I hear a lot of people talking about Substack’s algorithm in my Notes Section. Again, it takes 30 seconds to see if your favorite creators have their own platforms. And it probably only takes a few dollars a month to show your support to those creators.

The entire point behind the article you’re reading is to get readers curious enough to check out The Rebel Lore Vault, visit my site, and even get a free book to sign up for my newsletter, where I take even deeper dives into my fiction — whether it’s my dark paranormal fantasy, my dystopian survival, or young adult fantasy. They all have the same themes, and it uniforms my brand.

If you want to truly hold the cards — the cards you’ve been holding this entire time — then support the indies on their own platforms.

You can start by checking out fiction that bites over at The Rebel Lore Vault. Where my stories are meant to provoke thought every bit as much as they’re meant to entertain.

👉 Check out The Rebel Lore Vault

This article first appeared on The Rogue Scribe.