Greetings!
I’m actually on schedule with this post, so yay me!
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past two weeks thinking about community and how this is going to drive the future.
A lot of what I’ve been thinking was put into this Twitter thread:
I think the community will be where the majority of value gets captured online. But what does that actually mean?
Right now, most of the value is being captured at the platform level. This is most obvious where creator platforms are concerned. The YouTubes, TikToks, Mediums, etc are the ones who benefit the most. Then they pay out a bit to creators while pocketing the majority of the revenue. But this is shifting. As tools mature and evolve, creators are becoming able to build communities around themselves. They are beginning to own the relationship with their audience and no longer rely on large platforms for revenue.
This is changing the power dynamic between creators and platforms. Platforms are being forced to adjust the way that they pay creators. Without creators, these platforms wouldn’t exist. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to be done on this front. The majority of creators still depend on the platforms for their revenue. This means that they are reliant upon the platforms to pay them and they end up feeding the algorithm to make sure that they continue to make money.
This just isn’t sustainable. Taylor Lorentz wrote a great piece about creator burnout and I think this is the major problem with the focus on individual creators being the ones who are being rewarded by platforms.
This is something I’ve been experiencing. I’m trying to get things built up and it’s something that I’ve found a lot of challenges with. I haven’t been able to create content at a fast enough pace to be rewarded by the algorithms and I don’t have enough of an audience to be able to break away from platforms.
That’s why I think a community can be a big help. If there are mechanisms in place for community participation to be rewarded, all of a sudden, creators have more flexibility in their schedules. They can fall back on the community to lift them up when they need it. And their communities can share in the success of the creators who bring them together.
That’s the future I see. We’re not there yet. But that’s where things are trending. I’ve been watching trends closely and we’re definitely getting there. One of the most important factors though is in how the community is constructed. There are a lot of creators putting together communities. And a lot of them aren’t great. I’ve checked out a lot of different ones. Most of them aren’t worth the time. But a select few are potentially life-changing.
That’s the power of community. A community can provide you the help you need when you need it. That’s what I’m trying to build with my community. I want to put together a place where entrepreneurs can come together, be their true selves, and not worry about conforming to what the neurotypical world says they need to do. Most of what is out there is junk. Everything out there says you need to conform to certain behaviors and tactics. But all that is changing. There are more paths opening up every day.
I want to build a community that helps you find yours. Let me know if you need help. I’m happy to share what I’ve been learning.
If you are looking for a community to help, join us here if you haven’t. We’re going to be doing some pretty cool things together I hope.
What I’ve Been Doing
I had the pleasure of being back on Lobow’s Spark podcast. He brought several guests from the past season back to do a joint show. It was one of the most fun groups I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of. Highly recommend you check out the episode.
I also think I have to make a really difficult decision. I’ve been pushing to get something to work and I’ve hit barrier after barrier. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to know when to fold ‘em, as the song says. I’ll send out an update later with a bit more detail once I do what I’ve got to do.
Until next time!
~Leo