Social media algorithms are quite amusing. Instagram seems to know about my history of depression and my affinity for ketamine. What do I end up seeing in targeted advertisements? Ketamine infusion for depression. Now, I know it’s not reading my mind, but it might be scanning my messages. I’m sure I agreed to such terms and conditions without actually reading them — just mindlessly scrolling to the bottom and clicking “agree.” I suspect it also utilizes my phone’s microphone to capture snippets of my conversations. Reading the terms and conditions isn’t something I’m willing to do, and I doubt you or anyone else is either.
Another common occurrence on Instagram, especially for someone like me who blogs about drugs and follows drug-related content like Grateful Dead memes, is receiving direct messages from sketchy accounts. They offer me a menu of mail-order psychedelics, cannabis-related products, and various pharmaceuticals (usually Xanax and Adderall). It doesn’t bother me much; I simply block and report those accounts. A few weeks ago, I actually found it amusing and took a screenshot to post on my story.
Would you believe that Meta put me in Facebook jail for 30 days? Just as I was starting to share some fantastic reels from the filming of the documentary I’m working on. Normally, these reels would garner 200 plays within the first 24 hours, but this time I only got 17. It seems the algorithm, which is keen on selling me all sorts of drugs, has shadowbanned me for merely pointing out the amount of drug-related content I encounter on the platform. I wasn’t selling drugs; I was simply asking, “Hey, does Instagram bombard you with drug offers too, or is it just me?”
Well, that really sucks. I can’t even look cool on facebook for my little red notification circles of dopamine release.
