You know that feeling when you finally find a creator who actually gets it? Maybe it’s a streamer who doesn’t scream at their mic every five seconds or a writer whose newsletters actually make you think. You want to see everything they do. But let’s be real: algorithms are kind of a mess right now. You follow someone, and then their content just... vanishes into the digital void. That’s exactly why you need to know how to favorite a creator from their creator page. It’s the only way to beat the "suggested for you" nonsense that clutters your feed.
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Patreon have realized that "following" isn't enough anymore. Following is passive. Favoriting is active. When you land on a creator's profile—their home base—the option is usually staring you right in the face, but it's often tucked behind a tiny icon or a sub-menu that makes you wonder if they’re trying to hide it on purpose.
🔗 Read more: Delete Key Object Javascript: Why You Might Be Doing It All Wrong
Why the Creator Page is Your Best Bet
Most people try to manage their favorites from their own main feed. That’s a mistake. It’s cluttered. It’s noisy. If you go directly to the source, you’re in control. By navigating to the specific creator page, you’re telling the platform, "Hey, I’m here specifically for this person."
Take Instagram, for example. If you’re on a creator’s profile, you aren't just looking at their grid. You’re looking at the gateway to their "Favorites" status. Once you’re there, you tap the "Following" button—yeah, the one you already clicked—and a menu pops up. That’s where the magic happens. You’ll see "Add to Favorites." Tap that. Suddenly, their posts move to the top of your feed, and you can even filter your entire home screen to show only your favorites. It’s like a VIP section for your brain.
TikTok does it a bit differently. They use the "Favorites" folder system. On a creator's page, you can often favorite specific videos, but to truly keep tabs on the creator, you're looking for that notification bell. It’s a similar psychological trigger. You’re moving them from "someone I follow" to "someone I won't miss."
The Technical Reality of Social Algorithms
Why does this even matter? Honestly, it’s about data priority. Engineering teams at companies like Meta or ByteDance use weighted variables to decide what shows up when you open an app at 8:00 AM. A "follow" is a low-weight signal. A "favorite" or "close friend" designation is a high-weight signal.
When you learn how to favorite a creator from their creator page, you are manually overwriting the AI's predictive model. You're saying the math is wrong. You’re saying, "I don’t care if this 15-second clip of a cat playing the piano is viral; I want to see the 10-minute video essay from the creator I actually care about."
✨ Don't miss: Elon Musk Interview Today: Why He Thinks 2026 is the Year of the Singularity
Breaking Down the Platform Variations
Not every site uses the word "Favorite." It’s annoying.
On YouTube, it’s the bell icon. You go to the channel page. You hit subscribe. Then you hit the bell. If you don't hit "All," you're still at the mercy of the algorithm's mood swings. On Patreon, it’s about the "Follow" vs. "Member" distinction, but even there, you can toggle notifications for specific creators so they hit your email inbox instead of getting lost in the app’s notification graveyard.
Twitch is another beast entirely. To "favorite" there, you’re basically looking at the heart icon. But if you’re on their creator page, you want to ensure the "Remind Me" settings are dialed in. Otherwise, they’ll go live, and you’ll find out three hours later when they’re typing "gg" and signing off.
The Misconception About "Follow" vs. "Favorite"
A lot of users think following is the ceiling. It’s actually the floor.
I’ve talked to several community managers who see the same data: creators with 1 million followers might only reach 50,000 of them per post. That’s a 5% reach. It’s brutal. But the "Favorites" list? That’s where the 100% reach happens. If you’re a fan, you’re doing the creator a massive favor by favoriting them because it tells the platform's back-end that this content is "high-value."
It’s basically digital voting.
Step-by-Step Logic Across Most Apps
If you’re sitting there looking at a creator page right now, here is the universal logic to find the favorite button:
📖 Related: Universal Links in iOS: Why Your Deep Links Keep Breaking
- Look for the 'Following' button. It usually has a drop-down arrow next to it. People ignore that arrow. Don't be that person.
- Check the Three Dots (...) or 'Meatball' menu. In the top right corner of almost every creator page, there’s a menu. On platforms like X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook, this is where "Add to List" or "See First" usually lives.
- The Notification Bell. It’s the universal sign for "I actually want to see this."
- Star Icons. Some niche platforms use a star. If you see a star on a profile, click it.
Why This Works for Curation
We’re all suffering from content fatigue. Too much noise. Not enough signal. By spending ten minutes going through the creator pages of your top ten favorite people and favoriting them, you effectively curate your own private internet.
You stop being a passive consumer of whatever the algorithm serves you and start being an active curator of your own interests. It changes the way you interact with technology. It makes the experience less draining.
Actionable Next Steps
Don't just read this and go back to scrolling. Start with one platform. Pick the one you use most—maybe it's Instagram or YouTube.
Go through your "Following" list and identify the top five creators you’d be genuinely annoyed to miss an update from. Navigate to each of their creator pages individually. Locate the "Following" drop-down or the notification bell and toggle the "Favorite" or "All Notifications" setting.
Once you’ve done this for your top five, refresh your main feed. You’ll notice an immediate shift in what appears at the top. This simple manual adjustment is the most effective way to reclaim your attention span from the algorithms. Repeat this process once a month to keep your feed clean and relevant as your interests evolve.