the “creator economy” would be a much better place for creators and audiences alike if it was impossible to see metrics like follower counts, reach, likes, etc.

writer of manifestos, petter of cats.

in devotional pursuit of a more beautiful internet.

is the thinking that people would perceive the content meaningfully different without the bias of those metrics?

yea, my thinking is mostly around creators. seeing all the metrics seduces us into an optimization and control mindset, which leads us away from trusting ourselves and sharing what is uniquely our own, and towards a mechanistic, sterile, predictable monoculture where everyone is just doing what the data says