• Make the algorithm crazy, build a character, or put yourself in the shoes of a consumer? Teresa Garcia, senior copywriter at Serviceplan Spain, started an experiment to trick the algorithm.

You receive an email. Subject: Article Announcements. You read on. 300 words, something simple. Simple, huh? Find a new topic, or one that sounds new; a different approach, another way of putting it. Simple. Surprise people with similar interests, who end up seeing the same thing and talking, often, about the same thing. I blame the algorithm for turning all of us here into the same person. I think, “Maybe, if I can troll him, I'll discover something new.” I already have an experiment and a topic for the article.  

I open an IG account. I need a neutral name. I got it: @a.neutral.name. I become the most random person on the face of the earth: taxidermistx and 3D designer from Alcoy, terraplanistx and GretaThumberistx, I listen to rock by night and flamenco by day. I collect art and tractors. I look at suggestions. Do you want to be a fan of Hindu fans of a Korean singer? Yes. Of Tamara Falcó? Come on. Of a bearded bald guy who defines himself as Metal God? Of course. He proposes to follow Miquel Montoro and Victoria Beckam, one after the other. I've got him all confused.

The results of the experiment? Here they go...

A selection of things the algorithm has discovered for me, some of them related to the interests of my new self, others as illogical as his personality, but none that I would have taught my old self: crap taxidermy is a real thing; Porsches come with plastiquito; you freak out about the Festes de Moros i Cristians de Alcoi; a chair for gamers with built-in WC and manita-que-te-cleanse; a gadget for peeling corncobs that looks like a Yakuza weapon; if your aquarium is too small, you can expand it; a species of oyster that grows on trees; attractions that would make an astronaut vomit; the reason why 20. 000 bees followed a car for 2 days; the art of making toupees; Koreans are able to move in unison even at a metal concert; or how a baler makes straw bales.

It occurs to me that this, besides being fun, can be useful to build a character, prepare for a role if you are an actress/actor, or put yourself in the shoes of a consumer. I'll leave it at that.

I'm going to keep driving the algorithm crazy. DM for suggestions. 

And cheers to my seven followers: @edl.store.sales, @hortenciabeauty, @joyce_voite, @kkrause337, @_enes_63_serhat, @spyderfy_addonforblender and @alhywatabrahym1!

Author: Teresa García, Senior Editor, Serviceplan Spain