No Gatekeepers

One of the arguments that many new media folks will invoke is that there are no longer any gatekeepers. It used to be that we had to create a piece of art that spoke to someone’s taste. That person, an A&R rep or whatever, would be the gatekeeper to the audience or the recording deal that we needed to be a massive success.

Now, almost anyone can get famous if they have good enough content. The cream rises to the top. Or does it?

Consider that there are videos that go viral because they’re good content. They were in the right place at the right time, and so they achieved an audience. I had a video that did this.

But there are some channels and creators that have a formula for creating viral content. They create an interesting screen cap or use a headline that is alarming or intriguing. Their content is made with the knowledge of how the particular social network works. You can become a star on tik tok for instance, if you just adhere to the culture and post videos like the ones that are successful.

We’re no longer kept behind the gate by people… but perhaps the new gatekeeper that we need to impress is the algorithm.

Is this a better scenario?