Is Following the Crowd Hurting Your Social Media Game?

Navigating the fine line between trends and authenticity.

"Andi, it would be pretty good if you could finally start thinking outside the box you’ve built around yourself.”

That comment hit me hard.

My literature teacher had written it on one of my tests. He was different from any teacher I’d had before. On the first day of class, he announced we’d never open our literature textbook. Instead, we’d just use the poetry book. He wanted us to read poems and come up with our own interpretations, not just memorize what someone else had decided was right.

It was all about freeing our thinking from the usual mold.

Social media doesn’t really support original ideas

Funny enough, I ended up in the world of social media, where both skills are essential: you need to know how to follow trends—and how to break them.

Most people forget about the second one.

When you follow templates, you're pleasing the algorithm. But when you break them, you're doing it for people.

Let me explain.

I've been a social media strategist for 15 years—pretty much from the start. In the beginning, social media was all about personal expression, a playground where everyone shared the little moments of life. I still remember my first Instagram post: a baby shoe left on the steps, with a fallen leaf nestled inside. I thought it was adorable, so I posted it.

Then, companies started to see that social media could be used for more than just sharing news and giveaways. As more people signed up, ads and algorithms followed. The goal was clear: to bring some order to the noise and help each person see content that would keep them engaged.

(At this point, let's stay a bit naive—assuming no other motives drive the algorithm, and no experiments, political influence, or anything of that sort has ever taken place.)

So, the algorithm standardizes people. It puts them in boxes. Labels them.

In the beginning, content creators were genuinely creative people with something to say. They weren’t driven by revenue; they just wanted to share their message, show a slice of their lives, or create something meaningful.

But, of course, that changed. Soon came the creators without a real message, who molded themselves to fit a template—just to reach more people and, in turn, make more money.

For me, social media hit one of its low points with the rise of faceless accounts and the MRR (Master Resell Rights) products they promoted.

But back to the real content creators.

Nowadays, people realize that if they don't understand how the platform actually works, they won't be able to find success there.

If you have goals and aren’t just posting for fun, you can’t afford to pop in occasionally, share whatever comes to mind, and then move on. The system is designed so that you need to follow certain rules. And here’s the key: certain rules.

In social media, you need to influence two directions: one is the algorithm, and the other is the person seeing your content.

A significant number of people forget about the other side. They think that if they satisfy the algorithm, they’ve satisfied the audience as well.

Why do we copy others?

Copying each other is part of being human. It’s how we learn and grow. But here’s the thing: real growth happens when we take what we've seen and learned and add our unique touch.

Over time, we should be able to break out of those patterns and bring a fresh perspective to the table.

You don’t have to be a genius to do this; social media and algorithms often nudge us to play it safe by doing what everyone else is doing. The catch? That copied approach doesn’t work the same for everyone.

This can lead to a frustrating cycle where, after failing, we look for another template to follow. Before we know it, we forget why we started in the first place. We stop hearing our own voice, lose sight of our audience, and overlook our strengths. Instead of encouraging ourselves to share our true thoughts, we end up stuck in a loop of two options: either we figure out the secret to success or we throw in the towel.

So, why do we copy others on social media? Here are a few reasons:

• We’re not sure how to start.

• We want to play it safe.

• We think it’s easier to follow than to lead.

• We’re influenced by what we see and feel envious.

• Everyone has their blind spots, and we sometimes forget that.

Now that you understand the problem and why it happens, what can you do about it?

“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn.”

T.S. Eliott

Immature poets imitate because they want to be like other poets; mature poets steal because they want to be themselves, and assert their own originality in the context of the ‘great tradition’ of previous poetry.

Okay, I know we are not poets, but it works similarly as a content creator.

This quote relates to us on some level.

We don’t have to completely detach ourselves from the world around us. That’s impossible.

People influence us. The thoughts of others affect us. Movies, music, art, and even a good conversation with a friend shape who we are. Social media is a tool, a channel for sharing what we create, so we need to adapt to its certain rules to make it work. But let’s not forget that there’s a person on the other side who sees what we’ve created.

• Does it speak to them?

• Does it give them something? A feeling? A piece of knowledge?

• Does it make them think more?

• Will they remember it?

• Do they want to see more?

• Do they recognize it as your work because of your style?

These are the questions we should consider just as much as we focus on cracking the algorithm, applying hook templates, and using other clever strategies.

Be honest with yourself: Do you want to make an impact on others, or are you just after quick profits?

If you want to make an impact, it’s time to listen for your own voice after the templates and let your inner strength guide you. Choose a path. Your own path.

Andi