Point 10 reminds me of something Lord Vetinari said in Terry Pratchett's THE TRUTH:
"People like to be told what they already know. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. [...] They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don't want to know that a man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people *think* they want is news, but what they really crave is *olds*."
I have worked pretty hard to not allow any parasocial thing to happen with my audience, although of course there aren't really many good indicators for that sort of thing. I think the best evidence is that I can look at other """creators""" who have audiences of a similar size to mine, make similar money, but have much larger online ephemera than I do. For example, I learned recently that there's a freddiedeboer subreddit, but it seems barely used, while there are subreddits associated with people who have smaller quantitative audiences than I do which have very active subreddits and Discords and such. I've never sold merch and would never think to; that just isn't the relationship I have with my audience. A significant portion of my paying subscribers hate me, on a personal level, and a two-thirds majority of them said in a poll I did a couple of years back that they subscribed despite disagreeing with my politics.
That said, I started in a very different era of online media and I suppose I kind of got grandfathered in. I don't know how I would start today. All of the creative networks are so saturated.
Hey Freddie, thanks for the comment. Yeah I think those of us who did work on the 2010s Internet kind of developed parasocial cache in spite of being dry posters on Twitter, or whatever, well short of TikTok talking heads and video podcast stars. Parasociality looks different for different kinds of "creators" (writers lol) and so the reader's relationship with someone they go to for policy stuff, or political thinking, is different than someone they go to for easy weeknight meal recipes. I'm most focused on "culture" stuff which bleeds easily into parasocial relationships. But if thousands of people have an idea in their head about what you are like as a person, that's a bit parasocial, period. (—Kyle)
This is mindblowingly valuable if you have (or are willing to give a shot at getting) the skill/audacity/access/experience to read it holistically. Big up. HBR case study of the future type beat.
I like very much your list of the 20 rules. Can I translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you, and a description of you and your newsletter? Thanks in advance.
I’m sorry for being so explicit but this is so wonderfully well written. I mean, the message is interesting/spot on/hundred points emoji etc but the actual writing is so brilliant, flawless, and fresh. Comme toujours d’ailleurs
When you say "Broadcast on every channel" do you mean just using multiple media or also being on multiple platforms? Thinking of this in relation to #20 as well.
I would disagree with this suggestion because it's in direct conflict with point 20 "Make sure you know why you're doing something." Too many publishers, as also noted in the list, are simply doing things (blogs) because they were once cool.
I have not read of many efforts that simultaneously succeeded on "every platform, all the time." Most find growth on one first, then -- once that's established -- expand horizontally to others.
I do agree that a publisher could/should embrace being in "every medium" at the same time, i.e. text, audio, and video. But certainly not every platform, all the time.
Nice! This makes sense. After all, if I can make something valuable for one platform, why not keep using it? Much better than being loyal to a platform for no reason. Thank you!
I mean this is 20 Things, but they're good so I'll let it slide
It's 20 things, one at a time
Great pointers. I would add customising your output for different channels based on the audience you have there. Caveat - more time consuming.
Point 10 reminds me of something Lord Vetinari said in Terry Pratchett's THE TRUTH:
"People like to be told what they already know. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. [...] They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don't want to know that a man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people *think* they want is news, but what they really crave is *olds*."
a classic book and very wise commentary on the media!
But does that make the people right...?
I have worked pretty hard to not allow any parasocial thing to happen with my audience, although of course there aren't really many good indicators for that sort of thing. I think the best evidence is that I can look at other """creators""" who have audiences of a similar size to mine, make similar money, but have much larger online ephemera than I do. For example, I learned recently that there's a freddiedeboer subreddit, but it seems barely used, while there are subreddits associated with people who have smaller quantitative audiences than I do which have very active subreddits and Discords and such. I've never sold merch and would never think to; that just isn't the relationship I have with my audience. A significant portion of my paying subscribers hate me, on a personal level, and a two-thirds majority of them said in a poll I did a couple of years back that they subscribed despite disagreeing with my politics.
That said, I started in a very different era of online media and I suppose I kind of got grandfathered in. I don't know how I would start today. All of the creative networks are so saturated.
Hey Freddie, thanks for the comment. Yeah I think those of us who did work on the 2010s Internet kind of developed parasocial cache in spite of being dry posters on Twitter, or whatever, well short of TikTok talking heads and video podcast stars. Parasociality looks different for different kinds of "creators" (writers lol) and so the reader's relationship with someone they go to for policy stuff, or political thinking, is different than someone they go to for easy weeknight meal recipes. I'm most focused on "culture" stuff which bleeds easily into parasocial relationships. But if thousands of people have an idea in their head about what you are like as a person, that's a bit parasocial, period. (—Kyle)
This is fabulous
wow, very impressed by this! thank you for all the valuable insights!
This is mindblowingly valuable if you have (or are willing to give a shot at getting) the skill/audacity/access/experience to read it holistically. Big up. HBR case study of the future type beat.
Thanks Ben!
You’ve convinced me to read it xoxo
🥵
Me ticking through the list of all the things I’m doing wrong and how to implement fixes for them… but I guess that’s just taking my medicine 💀💀💀
Good points 👌. Can I translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
Yes feel free!
Done. Please, feel free to delete or add whatever you want:
https://emprender.substack.com/p/nuevas-reglas-de-los-medios-de-comunicacion
I like very much your list of the 20 rules. Can I translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you, and a description of you and your newsletter? Thanks in advance.
OK. I guess. https://marlowe1.substack.com/p/three-early-cheever-stories
loneliness killing service... yes.
I’m sorry for being so explicit but this is so wonderfully well written. I mean, the message is interesting/spot on/hundred points emoji etc but the actual writing is so brilliant, flawless, and fresh. Comme toujours d’ailleurs
thank you! it was fun
Great insights, thank you!
The content here is spot on. So I subscribed. Looking forward to more perspective.
When you say "Broadcast on every channel" do you mean just using multiple media or also being on multiple platforms? Thinking of this in relation to #20 as well.
being on every platform all the time! (unless you're specializing in a productive way)
I would disagree with this suggestion because it's in direct conflict with point 20 "Make sure you know why you're doing something." Too many publishers, as also noted in the list, are simply doing things (blogs) because they were once cool.
I have not read of many efforts that simultaneously succeeded on "every platform, all the time." Most find growth on one first, then -- once that's established -- expand horizontally to others.
I do agree that a publisher could/should embrace being in "every medium" at the same time, i.e. text, audio, and video. But certainly not every platform, all the time.
Three cents! :)
Nice! This makes sense. After all, if I can make something valuable for one platform, why not keep using it? Much better than being loyal to a platform for no reason. Thank you!