For young artists in this day and age, presenting your work to the world has evolved. No longer does a rookie musician find himself handing out CDs on a street corner, or a young painter struggle to muster up the budget for a gallery show. The process by which creatives showcase their talent nowadays is largely digital, whether it be through a personal blog, online streaming service or a social media page.

Some platforms, such as SoundCloud, cater to the community of undiscovered artists by making it easy and accessible for those wishing to pursue music to upload their work for public streaming.

Not all social media websites are so accommodating, however. Instagram uses an algorithm for its users’ feeds that counteracts the hard work rising artists put into having their work known and recognized.

Originally, an Instagram user could open up the application and expect to see an almost purely chronological content feed of the accounts they follow, but this has since changed. The app now uses an algorithm that takes into account the amount of ‘likes’ and views the post receives within the first few hours of posting, as well as the user’s following and the number of likes they obtained on previous content. These aspects decide where in their follower’s feeds their posts may appear: content that seems to be doing well based on exposure will appear towards the top, while posts that are “struggling” by Instagram standards can be seen only after a hefty amount of scrolling, if at all.

In a culture where sharing your work through the internet and social media is commonplace, Instagram’s content algorithm actively counteracts the effort put forth by artists to get recognition for their work. Only when an artist has garnered enough regular support and activity on their page will the app’s popularity-based content feed start to pay off for artists, but getting to that point is what remains difficult.

However, Instagram’s algorithm isn’t without reason. The social media platform aims to provide users with content that will engage and intrigue them, and ranking content based on likes and views is a reasonable way of achieving this.

Being an aspiring young artist or creative means competing with those with similar goals, and pushing for your work to be known. Although Instagram’s way of organizing a user’s feed bared no hostile intentions toward artists, it certainly does more harm than benefit.

The platform should leave deciding what they want to see to the user. The content feed should feature posts from a variety of accounts: celebrities, artists, acquaintances, relatives or whoever else a user may be following. Big name accounts that already flaunt a sizable following can do without the extra exposure; the eyes of even just a few viewers are much more important for those trying to build a name for themselves from the ground up.