By the Ocean
Clear 74 Degrees
4:37 a.m.
YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook all want more content. They want more because they need content to survive. Since they managed to convince business owners that working for free for them is a smart thing to do, they have a lot of it coming online every day.
This is where we run into a problem: because when there is too much of something, it is not perceived as valuable.
This is not an outdated opinion or the rantings of a lunatic mad man, this is how humans work.
So we have the declining value of a thing in the midst of the ever increasing production of that thing.
The end result is a MESS.
Why are the social media platforms so attractive?
They offer access to an alternate reality where you can generate the feeling of having accomplished something without actually having done anything.
Humans like easy. This is nothing new.
But it gets worse. Because from the outside, social media promises connection. In reality, it breeds dependence and emptiness. The emptiness increases the desire for connection which increases the dependence and emptiness. It’s no different than an abusive relationship.
So what is to be done? Figure out how to give the market what it really wants.
What it wants is real CONNECTION.
Do you know how to generate that? Do you know how to build real relationships with humans and maintain them over YEARS?
That’s actually what business is about. Growing relationships at a scale larger than you do in your home with your family.
Humans don’t want to be on the receiving end of someone’s “content.” They want to be seen. They want to be valued. They want to be led somewhere that’s better than where they’re at.
Social media trains business owners to reduce human beings to numbers. It strips their pain, their dreams, their unique stories, and transforms them into a set of eyeballs that you can manipulate with the right thumbnail.
Everyone knows this because they can feel it. That’s what creates the emptiness. It’s the byproduct of real connection leaving the room.
Not only is this disgusting, it’s a race to the bottom where everyone will eventually LOSE.
What’s the secret to fixing this? My answer starts with a media platform. I’m not just “selling” it, I’m DOING it…for the past 14 years. Show up in a way where they would miss you if you were gone. Make something that matters. And then do it again and again. (If you need ideas, I know a guy.)
When what you make brings the people, remember that you are dealing with beings who are just as complicated and unique as you are. Treat them like that, like you would want to be treated yourself.
What’s new is old is new again. We’ve gotten WAY off course over the years, and now we’re just about to make a turn and start heading back to the good old “Golden Rule:” Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
You don’t have to be religious to see the value in this, you just have to not be dumb.
This is an opportunity to be one of the first. To lead by providing to the marketplace something in a way that truly builds connection between buyer and seller. And to do it so that the experience you give them is unlike anything else.