⁠The Creator or the Created: Do we build the algorithm—or is it building us?

Ilham
Nov 23, 2025
6 min read

70-80% of people check their phones in the first 15 minutes of waking up. They check the news, messages and obviously social media. I, like that collective, am guilty of this. The minute I wake up I unplug my phone, reply to messages from friends and family, and begin my morning scroll. I wake up to discussion around the new Napoleon jacket trend (I think only few can pull it off), a video of Chris Cornell singing “Jesus Christ Pose” (which makes me sad because I remember he passed away) and seeing what human rights atrocity Israel has committed yet again (fills me with rage, obviously).

It's a no-brainer that your explore page tells a lot about you— maybe even too much. Like how holding someone else’s phone can feel oddly intimate and foreign, having a peek at your friends' social media explore pages seems pretty invasive, especially if done without invitation. Our intimacy between ourselves and social media is why niche corners of the internet like edtwt (eating disorder twitter) can exist, because our data ends up being used to sort us into groups or communities. So, if what we see on our explore pages is a reflection of our interests or fears, what does that say about the role of the algorithm in our identity? Is it just a passive observer, or does it have a greater impact on us?

Photo Credits: Toffelginkgo on Wikipedia

The Algorithm & Us

The algorithm works by keeping track of us. By looking for patterns in our behaviour and feeding it back to us- how we like, watch, and share. Every step is noted and essentially used to better our “user experience”. This almost immediate reflection of our identity is comfortable because it allows its central purpose to us: to entertain. The thing is, our position in the algorithm doesn’t end (or start) there. The algorithm that powers our explore pages has an ulterior motive, and that's to keep us on (and addicted to) the app in question because it generates profit.

So, how does this over-personalisation really affect us? Does it affect us at all? Do we build the algorithm, or is it building us?

I think the answer is less binary than that. I’ve observed that our explore pages can and do become a sort of liminal space wherein we are in a point of transition between data and person. We exist, but not fully. Instead, our being is dissected into little videos and posts that some code has determined will suit us best, and it is often correct. Really, I think this not only causes a fractured sense of self but also a fractured sense of interests, ambitions and societal expectations at large. There are many examples of how this algorithm informs how we act, the opinions we have or the media we may consume. I think one of the most invasive ways that the algorithm has made its way into our lives is through beauty standards.

I see your face everywhere I go, literally.

Haven’t you noticed it too? How every attractive woman on Tiktok or Instagram looks essentially the same? A term has already been coined for it: instagram face. It's typically a racially ambiguous face with a small nose, “fox” eyes and big lips and it is inarguably the new standard. I think the main person/group to thank/blame is Kylie Jenner and the extended Kar-Jenner clan. I argue she (Kylie) was instagrams first princess, at the ripe age of about 18. Kylie’s hold on beauty standards, only amplified by her makeup line and image (King Kylie), is still seen in our social media beauty standards today in influencers like Leah Halton, Cindy Kimberly and Madison Beer. She was and IS the original instagram face - botoxed to hell, with full lips and poreless skin.

She really makes an almost perfect case study to how algorithms are profit influenced, and how we, the non-influencer-celebrity end up paying the price. Using marketing to bend the algorithm in her favour, Kylie (and her image by extension) became so inconceivably popular that she became the face of a new plastic surgery trend: lip fillers. Since then, plastic surgery has only seemed to get more and more popular, with increased discussion about “baby botox” or “lunch break nose jobs”. While she may not have single handedly caused this boom in cosmetic surgeries, I think it makes sense to assume her role in it all to be more than inconsequential.

It’s really so boring. Every time I scroll on whatever app I'm on I'm met with 3 variations of the same face. There are so many layers to this, but ultimately what the algorithm has created is a sort of self governing so vicious that we have all become united in insecurity, even though we are more divided than ever. Everything has ended up being so disgustingly curated and perfect. Everything has to be a named aesthetic and everyone has to look good (there exists a very narrow definition of “good”) and nobody looks like a human. Like, what does it even mean to be “deer pretty” versus “cat pretty”? Do you people hear yourselves?

I TRULY, TRULY, in my heart of hearts believe that social media has so badly eroded our sense of self and confidence that we have resorted to a sort of monoculture so bland, unenthusiastic and insecure that we end up being motivated to look like the same 3 variations of the same person. I cannot begin to convey to you how much I resent this. I think it has made us uncompelling, unoriginal and afraid to live, and it all happened for the survival of a few apps. I think that by using social media, we have subconsciously consented to our role within the algorithm. We accept that our actions and data are recorded, stored, and used against us (or for, depending on how you view it) in pursuit of profit. It’s a weird time, where social media and its algorithmic fervor have ushered in a new age of dystopia - where facial features can be “in” and “out” of trends at a remarkable pace.

So, what?

So, back to the central question - do algorithms build us, or do we build it? I think the answer is that it’s a mix of both. As users of these apps we hold an indispensable role within the algorithm where our data fuels the very fabric of these apps. Since the algorithm creates trends by identifying and then amplifying popular content, it’s almost impossible to ignore our (social media users) role in creating these beauty standards and trends. We see these things again and again and WANT TO because I guess it reflects a deeper anxiety that we all have in common (like being unattractive). I think this is partially due to the fact that social media has a unique way of preying on our insecurities. I estimate it's so effective in doing so because negative things can often engage us better than the positive, not because we enjoy it, but we’re so desperate to fix ourselves and our insecurities that we instead end up dwelling on what's “wrong” with us rather than what's right. To focus on what's wrong and how to change feels almost productive, and productivity is highly valued in our society today.

So really, the algorithm takes us apart to build itself, then feeds its dissection of our personalities and insecurities back into us to create a trendy vicious feedback loop. We end up addicted, often at the cost of our self-esteem, confidence, and individuality.

Writer's Notes:

Writing about this was really fun and also really frustrating!!! I have been feeling angry about this topic for a WHILE so I guess it was nice to let it all out… This topic really piqued my interest partially because I’m SO BORED with the echelon of individuality I see these days. I don’t want to look like I know what an iphone is. I’m so sick of hearing about how I should be taping my forehead or my mouth when I sleep to prevent wrinkles, to buy a new tank top because it’ll make me look more snatched or to buy some new overpriced makeup (that will do the exact same thing as the $2 version of the SAME THING) wow, I’m sick of it all. I think we’ve all let ourselves die at the hands of the algorithm and profit. Everyone is just so boring.