How the rage machine swallows nuance and quietly punishes readers, writers, and sellers
Once upon a timeline, books were the centre of cultural discussion. Now? Scroll too fast and the algorithm might spit you out before you can finish the title. If you’re an author, bookseller, or reader trying to exist online (especially on platforms like X) you’ve probably felt it: the sense that long form thought is being quietly smothered.
And you’re not wrong.
The Invisible Algorithm
The X algorithm is designed not for depth but for “engagement.” But engagement doesn’t mean curiosity or thought… it means reaction. Rage. Conflict. Polarisation. It rewards the loudest, not the smartest.
Books don’t fit neatly into that system. They require time, attention, nuance. All things that slow a scroll. And so, they’re pushed aside by the system itself – maybe not out of malice, but out of misalignment.
But what happens when algorithms actively punish book content?
Shadowbanned by the Scroll Gods
Shadowbanning (or “limited visibility”) is real. Sellers and writers have reported posts vanishing from feeds, or being throttled without explanation. Even when people want to engage, they often don’t see the post.
If a book post doesn’t spark a hot take or a pile-on, it can be buried… no matter how good or relevant it is. A viral moment isn’t enough. You need sustained chatter, over time, across accounts. And that’s hard to fake or force – especially with niche or thoughtful material.
One Viral Post ≠ Sales
Even when a book does get discussed, it doesn’t always translate into sales. The algorithm might surface a controversial opinion about a book, not the book itself. The conversation spirals, the post trends… and nobody clicks the link.
This is where authors and sellers feel stuck. How do you sell a book when the system wants memes and meltdowns, not context or care?
The Machine Prefers Mayhem
Social platforms want you to stay on the platform. Clicking away to read a blog post? Buy a book? Watch a long interview? That’s friction. That’s bad for ad revenue. So instead, they feed the extremes and throttle the nuance.
The result: books struggle for oxygen. Writers burn out trying to “market themselves.” Bookshops drown in silence while trolls trend effortlessly.
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What Can Be Done?
1. Blog anyway. Search engines still love substance. People still find things off-platform.
2. Diversify your reach. Don’t rely on X. Use newsletters, videos, or wherever people are still allowed to think.
3. Name the problem. Meta-commentary is content. Talk about the suppression itself. You’re not imagining it ~ and others are noticing too.
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“The algorithm wants heat, not light. But books are still a slow fire.”
Let’s make space for them ~ together and stop the algorithm from making us all boring…
Follow this link for recommended reads about algorithms.
