The Death of the Aesthetic: Why We’re Ditching the Algorithm and Going Back to Our Roots

Twitter Post headline following Poki's relationship announcement on stream

If you’ve noticed we’ve been a bit quiet on your feeds lately, there’s a good reason for it. Two days after cutting the mics on our last episode, the two of us got into an absolute, unfiltered rant about what it actually feels like to be a content creator right now. 

The honest truth? We are sick and tired.

Lately, social media has felt less like a creative outlet and more like a clinical chore. Somewhere between hyper-focusing on aesthetics, tracking engagement percentages, and trying to beat the latest algorithm changes, the absolute joy of just putting art out there got completely sucked dry.  

Remember when you could just take a messy picture of a sandwich, slap a filter on it, and post it without thinking twice? Now, every platform wants you to be a walking, talking statistic. 

That is exactly why we started this blog. 

Finding the Joy in "Unpolished" Content Again

We initially started this podcast three years ago because we realised there was a massive lack of gaming and tech podcasts in Africa, and, honestly, we just had way too much to say. But because we both work full-time 9-to-5s, content creation naturally became the side hustle. When you're pouring your heart and soul into something 24/7 on top of a day job, burnout isn't just a possibility; it's a guarantee. 

Building this website and writing these blogs is our way of finding our happy place again. Because we aren't aggressively advertising this blog, it feels like the old-school Tumblr days all over again, back when you wrote just for the sake of writing, shared music from SoundCloud, and didn't have the pressure of needing to impress anyone.

"If you’re not enjoying your content, how can you expect anyone else to?"  

We love platforms like TikTok because they allow for more spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment content. But the demand for constant consistency is exhausting. The internet tells creators they need to post three times a week. Between scripting, filming, and editing, who has the time for that while working a full-time job? It forces creativity into a tiny, sterilized box, especially when brands get involved and demand you hit a five-second hook or frame a product perfectly in a 33-second window.

Where is the room for the creator to actually shine in all of that? 

Drawing the Line: Your Audience is Not Your Friends

This brings us to a massive boundary we need to talk about: The façade of total transparency online.

There is a bizarre expectation nowadays that creators need to split themselves into multiple accounts: one for their "polished brand" and a second "offline account" for their "actual thoughts." Or worse, there’s a sense of entitlement from audiences who think they have a right to every single detail of a creator's life.

Rushka recently had a conversation with another male creator who genuinely asked: "Why do some women keep their relationships a secret and hide their personal lives from social media?"

The short answer? Because no one is entitled to your personal life. You do not owe anyone anything just because you have a public persona.

There is a definitive line between who we are online and who we are at home with our families. Let's be incredibly real, even if it sounds harsh: An online community is not the same as a circle of real-life friends. We aren't going to show up at a follower's door on a Friday night in a gown and slippers to hang out.

The Double Standard is Real

There is a thick layer of sexism baked into this entitlement. Audiences rarely demand that male tech or gaming creators disclose who they are fraternising with, yet, when a woman online discloses her relationship status, people completely lose their minds; unfollowing, unsubscribing, and throwing digital tantrums.

We run gaming and tech pages. Why does it matter who we are dating?  

We love being open on our stories. We will loudly thirst for Valorant characters, talk about the anime we are hyper-fixated on, or rant about dropping a carton of Woolies eggs on the way home. But the deeply personal things - our families, our grief, our private relationships - belong to us.

When audience interaction crosses over from support into obsessive, parasocial entitlement, it gets creepy.

What’s Next for Banter Bit?

We are choosing sanity over statistics. We aren't going to manage seven different accounts to protect our engagement rates. We're putting everything right here, in one place, because we are the same people at the end of the day.  

If our viewership drops because we refuse to play the clinical aesthetic game, so be it. We are finally having fun again, and that's what matters.

We are officially moving to a bi-weekly schedule to give ourselves breathing room and keep the quality high. Thank you to everyone who has given us such a great reception over the last three years - we love bantering with you, but on our own terms x

See you in two weeks!

Want to keep up with our unfiltered thoughts? Make sure to follow Banter Bit on Spotify (or your favourite podcast platform) or subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest on our latest adventures.