How a Shocking Drop From 200K+ Views to Crickets Made Me Can My Dream of Writing Full Time

A heartless algorithm shift transformed me from a darling to pretty much a nobody

When I read about new writers killing it on NewsBreak, I smile because I experienced the same high when my articles started taking off in early 2022.

Little did I know that the good times wouldn’t last (considering they hardly ever do). So, naturally, I started wondering if I should pursue writing full-time.

That would have been an outright disaster because I got blinded by the forest instead of focusing on the trees. In other words, I knew I should have been aware that I was at the mercy of the algorithm, however, I was too focused on how well I was doing to think that far ahead.

Rookie mistake.

I thought several times before I decided to write this but reading and talking to a number of other writers who are on the same boat convinced me to share some of my thoughts and observations about what is happening.

For those of you who are not aware of NewsBreak, it is a popular news app that people can download to their devices. The app highly favors local news stories and allows users to input their area and receive updates on stories that are relevant to the area in which the user lives.

The sign-up process to be a creator is relatively easy and you can become eligible for monetization after publishing 10 stories and obtaining 100 registered followers. You can learn how to in detail here👇

I am not sure whether I am feeling the pinch because of the almost overnight success I achieved there. I only needed to write and the algorithm gods smiled.

Until they didn’t.

My followers count which was on a steep upward trajectory plateaued at 36.7K around February and has not moved since. That was around the time the platform made a major move away from national stories to focus mainly on quality local content.

February was my last big month there. By March my income dramatically dropped and now it’s almost like I’m performing a free social service by writing stuff that I am not particularly interested in or care about.

Hear the bitterness?

It is. I love to write about a wide variety of things, especially history, and had a solid niche for that on NB until things turned south.

So now, do I adapt and turn journalist or shift to a different platform?

Don’t get me wrong, there may be lots of people who are maybe doing just fine on NewsBreak, particularly those who stuck to quality local stories (although I am not sure what the viewership is like for small-town-based stories). Again, I am relating my experience from the huge views that national stories used to garner so I really have no clue what is considered decent viewership with regard to local views.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Over the past weeks, I have read the opinions from different contributors and except for 2, almost everyone reported that their views were in free fall. And among those who reported a lack of traction are writers who have been writing quality local stories from way back.

So what gives? Any thoughts? Do you think this change is temporary considering the fact that we are paid through ad revenues?

More from Yana BG