Why follower counts are losing their power in the algorithm-driven creator economy

Box believes artificial intelligence played a key role. As AI-generated content floods feeds, audiences appear to be gravitating back toward real people with lived experience. Consumers are actively seeking out creators they trust, rather than passively consuming whatever the algorithm serves them. The study also found that 97 percent of chief marketing officers plan to increase influencer marketing budgets, suggesting that trust has become more valuable than scale.

Owning these relationships, however, has become harder. Many creators are experimenting with paid communities, newsletters, and platforms that rely less on opaque algorithms. Others are taking a more aggressive approach, embracing tactics designed to exploit algorithmic systems rather than resist them.

One of the most striking examples is the rise of content clipping. Eric Wei, whose company provides financial services to creators, says some of the world’s biggest streamers now rely on informal networks of teenagers paid to clip highlights and post them across platforms. These clips are uploaded from countless small accounts, increasing the chances that an algorithm will amplify at least some of them.

This strategy has been used by artists like Drake and streamers such as Kai Cenat. According to Wei, clipping works precisely because platforms no longer care who posts content, only how well it performs. A viral clip can come from an unknown account and still reach millions.

Glenn Ginsburg describes clipping as an evolution of meme culture, where multiple accounts compete to push the same intellectual property as widely as possible. It is effective, but not without risk. The approach can quickly flood platforms with low-quality content, contributing to what many now describe as social media slop.

Even Reed Duchscher, founder of talent agency Night and former manager to MrBeast, is cautious. While he sees clipping as a useful distribution tool, he warns that it is difficult to scale sustainably and may lose effectiveness once it becomes too common.

At the same time, many creators are moving in the opposite direction. Box points to a broader retreat into smaller, niche communities where interaction feels real. Platforms such as Strava, LinkedIn, and Substack are benefiting from this shift, offering creators tighter feedback loops and more meaningful engagement.

Duchscher believes this trend favours niche creators over mass-market stars. Algorithms are now so precise that breaking into every audience segment is increasingly difficult. While global icons like PewDiePie or Charli D'Amelio still dominate, replicating their scale has become far harder.

This does not mean the creator economy is shrinking. According to Sean Atkins, it is expanding beyond entertainment into industries most people never associate with content creation. He points to Epic Gardening as an example of a creator brand that grew from YouTube into a major real-world business, including ownership of one of the largest seed companies in the United States.

The creator economy is no longer defined by follower counts alone. In an environment ruled by algorithms, trust, relevance, and adaptability matter far more than raw numbers. Creators who understand this shift are not chasing visibility. They are building systems that survive without it.