“Look at the peak,” he said.

“I am looking at the peak,” I said.

“The peak happened on Tuesday. Tuesday was a good day.”

“The peak is a high number,” I said.

“The number is very high,” he said.

He held the phone in his hand. The phone was silver. The screen of the phone was bright. On the screen was a graph. The graph showed a line. The line moved from the left to the right. The line went up. The line went down. Then the line went up very fast. This was the peak. He took a screenshot of the graph. He sent the screenshot to a group. The group was full of people. The people were creators. The creators looked at the screenshot. They saw the peak. They saw the number. They began to talk.

The screenshot was not information. The screenshot was a display. The screenshot was a piece of jewelry. The creator wore the screenshot. The creator wanted the other creators to see the status. The status was the number. The number was the rank. The rank was the power.

The Sumptuary Law of 1470

In the year 1470, the Duke of Burgundy made a rule. The rule was about clothes. The rule was about jewels. The rule said that a knight could wear velvet. The rule said that a squire could not wear velvet. The rule said that a count could wear gold cloth. The rule was a sumptuary law. The law kept the rank clear. If a man wore the wrong cloth, the man was a liar. The cloth told the truth about the money. The cloth told the truth about the family. The cloth was a signal. The signal was for the eyes of other men. The cloth did not keep the man warmer than other cloth. The cloth was an ornament. The ornament established the place of the man in the court.

The screenshot of the graph is the same as the gold cloth. The creator does not share the graph to help the other creators. The creator does not share the graph to explain the work. The creator shares the graph to show the rank. The graph is the jewel. The green arrow is the diamond. The steep line is the gold.

The Warehouse of Ghosts

Sage A.-M. is an inventory reconciliation specialist. Sage A.-M. counts things in a warehouse. Sage A.-M. finds the errors in the books. Sage A.-M. told me about the way people look at numbers. Sage A.-M. said that managers like a high count. The managers like to see a high number on the screen. Sometimes the number on the screen does not match the boxes on the floor. Sage A.-M. calls this a discrepancy. The managers do not like the word discrepancy. The managers want the screen to stay high. The managers use the high number to show the boss. The high number is a decoration for the manager. The manager wears the number like a ring. The number is not the truth of the warehouse. The number is the status of the manager.

“The managers want the screen to stay high… The number is not the truth of the warehouse. The number is the status of the manager.”

– Sage A.-M., Inventory Reconciliation Specialist

Pushing the Pull Door

I pushed a door that said pull. I was at a building in the city. I saw the handle. I pushed the handle. The door did not open. I pushed the handle again. I used my weight. My weight did not move the door. I looked at the sign. The sign was small. The sign said “Pull.” I pulled the handle. The door opened. The door was light. I felt foolish. I was trying to force the world to work in a way that was not real.

I thought about the creators. The creators push the graph. They want the line to go up. They want the screenshot. They want the jewel to show the group. They forget the video. They forget the viewer. They only see the decoration. They want to be the Duke of Burgundy. They want the gold cloth.

The work of a creator is to make a video. The video needs views. The views are the people who watch the work. Sometimes a creator needs momentum. The creator needs a foundation for the channel. The creator might choose to acheter des vues youtube to create this foundation. This is a choice for the business. This is a choice about the algorithm. The choice is about being seen by more people. It is a practical step. It is a way to pull the door instead of pushing the door. But then the creator takes the screenshot. The creator sees the new numbers. The creator forgets the foundation. The creator looks at the graph. The creator thinks the graph is a trophy. The creator shows the trophy to the chat. The practical step becomes an ornament. The ornament becomes the goal.

Putting the Phone Down

I stopped sharing the screenshots. I had a peak on a Thursday. The line was very steep. The line was a beautiful green. I opened the app. I looked at the graph. My thumb moved to the buttons. I wanted to take the screenshot. I wanted to send the screenshot to my friends. I wanted my friends to see my rank. I wanted to wear the jewel.

I remembered the door. I remembered the sign that said “Pull.” I remembered Sage A.-M. counting the boxes. I looked at the graph again. The graph was just data. The data told me that the video was good. The data told me that the people liked the video. That was the information. The information was for me. The information was for the work. If I sent the screenshot, the information would die. The information would become a decoration. I would be wearing my analytics. I would be a man in gold cloth walking through a room of men in velvet.

I put the phone on the table. The phone was face down. I did not take the screenshot. I went back to the computer. I started a new video. The new video was the work. The work was the floor of the warehouse. The work was the boxes. The graph was only a report.

The Rules of the Group Chat

The culture of the creator is a court. The court has rules. The rules are not written in a book. The rules are in the group chat. The rules say that the person with the highest peak is the leader. The leaders post their screenshots at night. The followers look at the screenshots in the morning. The followers feel the weight of the jewels. The followers want their own jewels. They want to buy the status. They want to show the rank.

I see the screenshots every day. I see the steep lines. I see the modest captions. The captions say things like “Finally figured it out” or “Big things coming.” These are lies. The captions are the way the Duke speaks about his gold. The Duke says the gold is heavy. The Duke says the gold is a burden. But the Duke never takes the gold off. The Duke wants you to see the gold.

Numbers are for counting. Numbers are for measuring the distance between a start and a finish. When a number becomes an ornament, the number loses its use. The number becomes a ghost. Sage A.-M. knows about ghosts. Sage A.-M. knows that a warehouse full of ghosts will eventually fail. The books will not match the floor. The Duke will run out of gold. The creator will run out of videos.

A Tool for the Hand

I sat in a chair. The chair was wooden. I looked at the wall. The wall was white. I thought about the peak on the graph. The peak was a good peak. It was a peak of 12,482 views in one hour. That is a high number. It is a number that would look good in a screenshot. It would get many reactions. People would send emojis of fire. People would send emojis of rockets. The fire and the rockets are the applause of the court. The applause feels good. The applause is a drug.

I did not want the drug. I wanted the work. I wanted to pull the door. I wanted to count the boxes. I wanted to be a person who makes things, not a person who wears things. The graph is a tool. A tool is for the hand. A tool is not for the neck. A tool is for building. A jewel is for standing still.

The phone stayed on the table. The screen stayed dark. I did not check the app for three hours. When I checked the app, the line had moved. The line was going down. The peak was over. This is the way of the graph. The peak always ends. If the peak is your jewel, you are poor when the peak ends. If the peak is your data, you are wise when the peak ends. You know what to do next.

I picked up the phone. I did not open the group chat. I opened the script for the next video. The script was 1,140 words long. The words were the truth. The words were the work. I felt better. I was not a Duke. I was a creator. I was a man who pulls the door. I was a man who counts the boxes. I was happy.