I don't really care to use Twitter to advertise myself, reach clients or new people, or anything like that. I use Twitter only out of obligation to remain in contact and keep up with friends' lives. I'd much rather be hearing about things in chatrooms or LJ.

But I'm seeing this one really lovely artist - Flash White - with thousands of followers, who seems to struggle to get any attention on, possibly because the algorithm is de-prioritising their posts. This is a problem for them when they need commission clients to pay for medical bills.

If I was pessimistic, I'd wonder if their account is being decimated by the algorithm because they're seemingly in Russia.

But the fact their art doesn't see anywhere near the attention their follower count ought to suggest, feels like a major example of how algorithmic timelines screw artists over, who don't work off of banal metrics like "engagement".

Turn off "home", use "latest tweets", don't play Twitter's game.