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What Is the Feed Mill?
Published 2026-09-20
What is the Feed Mill? It's what happens when distribution starts dictating creation.
The feed isn't the enemy. Publishing often isn't the enemy. Algorithms aren't the enemy either. The trouble starts when the algorithm's appetite becomes your boss.
Once that happens, the platform starts deciding things that used to be yours:
- How often you publish
- Which subjects get your attention
- Which format every idea has to fit
- How fast you abandon one idea for the next
- How much of your week goes to staying visible
You stop asking what would be worth giving your audience. You start asking what the platform needs from you today.
The two ways creators end up in it
Most creators get pushed into one of two bad deals. Some do everything manually and have no energy left to make anything worth showing people. Others let AI manufacture the material and publish whatever falls out.
The first creator gets exhausted. The second gets prolific without getting more interesting. Both end up working for the feed.
What ensloppification has to do with it
Ensloppification is what the Feed Mill leaves behind. When the demand for constant material meets cheap generation and weak creative direction, you get feeds full of posts nobody needed.
How to stay out of it
Use the algorithm for distribution, not direction. Let it help good work find the right people, and let it shape the packaging. Don't let it pick the ideas.
Your audience deserves a full feed. The algorithm doesn't deserve your entire life.
FAQ
Is the Feed Mill the same as the algorithm?
No. The algorithm is a delivery system. The Feed Mill is what happens when you let that delivery system decide what you make.
Is posting often part of the Feed Mill?
Not by itself. A steady feed is fine when you're the one deciding what goes in it.