Algorithm anxiety

Researchers and trade press use the term for something creators know from the inside: refreshing analytics hourly, reading a slow first day as punishment, changing format after one weak video, posting through illness because a gap feels dangerous. The mechanism is unpredictable reward, the same schedule that makes a slot machine hard to walk away from. It bites harder for creators because a livelihood is attached. What helps is judging performance over a run of videos, deciding in advance what a bad week is allowed to change, and separating the work you control from the outcome you do not. Build a process you can follow on a bad day.