April 8, 2025
We all start with something to say. A story, a skill, a spark we think might help or inspire someone else. That’s the original dream of online creation. Share your passions, build your brand, maybe grow a little community along the way.
But fast-forward a few months, and things start to shift. The numbers become louder than the ideas. The “why” gets murky. You’re chasing trends you don’t care about and using tactics you’re not proud of.
Suddenly you’ve built something that looks more like a black hole than a brand.
As a creator, you need to ask: Are you designing content that connects or content that consumes? Because there’s a fine line between building something sustainable and something that devours attention without giving anything back.
Let’s talk about that line—and how not to cross it.
The algorithm doesn’t love you. That’s rule number one. It doesn’t care about your message or your goals. It cares about time-on-site and click-through rates. Not evil, just hungry. And it rewards content that feeds its voracious appetite. Favorite meals include shorter attention spans, faster dopamine hits, more outrage, and more spectacle.
This is the ecosystem in which you have to create. It’s no surprise that some creators slowly pivot from storytelling to stunts, from teaching to clickbait. According to DataReportal’s 2024 global digital report, the average user now spends 6 hours and 40 minutes per day on digital media.
That’s a staggering chunk of human life, and a tempting statistic for creators. They feel more pressure to build content that keeps people glued, regardless of the impact. But just because it works doesn’t mean it’s good.
And just because something grabs attention doesn’t mean it deserves it.
There’s a difference between hooking your audience and hijacking them.
Maybe you’re ending every video on a cliffhanger. Maybe your thumbnails scream panic or promise impossible results. Or you could be riding the outrage wave just to boost engagement. These strategies aren’t always malicious, but they can be manipulative if you’re not careful.
At some point, you have to consider what your content is doing to the people who consume it. If you think that question is too dramatic, then the Fortnite addiction lawsuit might shift your perspective.
Parents are demanding accountability from Epic Games, Fortnite’s creator. They claim the company uses egregious psychological tactics to get players addicted to the game, particularly minors. Added to this are claims of serious mental health and behavioral issues.
According to TruLaw, Epic Games has deliberately built a game designed to keep players online for extended periods. They also have aggressive monetization strategies that manipulate players to spend large sums of money in-game.
This is a stark reminder of the power in digital design. When that power is misused, the consequences aren’t abstract, but personal and very real.
Money muddies the waters. The pressure to monetize makes it easier to justify ethically gray choices: pushing more products, cramming more ads, inflating scarcity.
But here’s the thing—your audience can feel it. They know when they’re being seen as a wallet instead of a human. and while clickbait and manufactured urgency might spike your metrics in the short term, they erode long-term trust.
According to a Customer Think article in October, 2024, brand loyalty is no longer about a product. It's a value-driven metric with deep ties to identity. That's why more consumers say they're most likely to stay loyal to a brand that’s transparent about its values and practices. This includes content creators, because you are your brand.
With that in mind, monetization doesn’t have to be predatory. You can look into affiliate links that you actually use, or sponsorships that align with your niche. Other options include offering digital products that solve real problems, or encouraging community support on platforms like Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee.
These are avenues where value is freely exchanged, not extracted.
Virality is cheap. Impact is expensive.
And here’s where creators have to zoom out and think beyond the next upload. What are you building? Will your work still mean something in a year or is it just noise feeding the feed?
This isn’t just about conscience, but craft. The most enduring creators build trust first. They create content that makes people feel something, learn something, or connect with something real. That kind of legacy doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention, boundaries, and sometimes, saying no to what the algorithm wants.
Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology puts it plainly: “The world is now run by algorithms whose objectives are not aligned with ours.”
So it’s on us to choose better ones.
