I've never subscribed to a substack or become a member of somebodies youtube channel so I could enjoy the privilege of making a comment. I just made my first exception.
With the tens of millions of bits of information that are being thrown at you per minute in the online world, occasionally you read a piece that makes you stop and think. Ding, ding, ding, ding....this was the one. And you didn't even have to write about drones, UFO's, Loch Ness Monsters or do a report from your shower.
It's not that you're not a fantastic writer. It's also not that you're a fantastic teacher helping others be noticed online. It's also not that you're content is subpar. You exel at all those things. The problem is you have a shitty boss who won't pay you and millions will figure that out in let's say a couple of years.
Sure, consistent effort. Do what you love and the money will follow. All the self help isms and Laws of Mastery that fill the stacks at Barnes and Noble, but if you have an employers that is Ebeneezer Scrooge, you're work is not paying off...in the monetary sense.
I have no issues with Elon Musk. None that I'm aware of yet. Interesting and enigmatic guy. No problem with his politics as I understand them. It's the entire social media/big tech model. We make the money and you'll have nothing and like it....because you need us. Well, I guess I do have one problem and that's he won't pay the help.
I have no animosity toward him. Run your business the way you see fit. If I don't like it, I won't visit.
All of this was outlined recently by my other favorite substack writer, Ted Gioia in his piece. "Are Social Media Platforms the Next Dying Malls?
"These bunkers were never real communities and never will be. They’re just businesses—often run with distrust or contempt for their users.
From the start, malls were artificial constructs designed to maximize profits for the owners—and this was insufficient to create a true community, a sense of shared purpose, or enduring loyalty.
The same is true of social media. The owners of these platforms don’t even pretend otherwise.
In the last three years, they stopped trying to build communities, and shifted to promoting addictive scrolling and swiping. They manipulate their users with a smug attitude that can only be described as contempt."
You're the talent. Your content brings the subscribers to X. Essentially, you work for Elon Musk or another Big Tech CEO on another platform. Don't get me wrong. I ain't a socialist and I think capitalism is grand. But even in a thriving capitalist society, the worker has to be paid and to them you're just a dispensable prostitute. If you won't do it, they'll get someone else. So they think.
Sure spend the days, weeks, years honing your craft. But your craft deserves more than minimum wage. Keep in mind, I'm not giving you any advice. I'm actually writing to myself who has thought about this conundrum that also has unique content but hasn't found the right home for it, but I'm in no rush because I trade financial markets.
Part II so what's next and where do I go? Like Macy's in Miracle on 34th street, I don't have the answer, but I can send you down to Gimbles who might have what you're lookng for. Greg Isenberg on twitter has been writing about all of this for a couple of years. Just some young entrepreneur mind with fluffy hair and glasses that puts out good idea's for other creators.
It seems that we're moving into a period of decentralization... in all things. That's another topic altogether. But Greg talks about the need for online communities and private communities that will fit every Nitch. Not only a space to get your writing on for the things you like to write about but a way to get paid. You're the owner and the talent.
A government who taxes the people and uses it for it's own gain benefits nobody. But if they take that revenue and give it back to the people in the way of public spaces, infrastructure then the wealth is going back from where it came from. Kind of a libertarian concept.
The music business was famous for basically raping great artists. You can't tell some of the greatest talent in the world to work harder. They are already the greatest talent in the room. But if their owners won't pay them, then the problem isn't the work ethic.
I have no idea which platform will help your cause more. Apparently, YouTube does the same to it's creators and other platforms to their creators. And without the creators, these platforms are nobodies. So unfortunately, I can't provide an immediate solution to your pay situation. But I can point out, change is coming and both Ted and Greg are pointing a light in the direction in which social media and online communities will go in the next few years.
Thanks, David. I appreciate all of this, and find nothing to disagree with here.
I know there's a way for my skillset to produce a living wage -- it did it before -- but there is a scramble on right now to figure out how best to make that work in a flood of content. Good work does rise to the top eventually, which is fine, except you've got to put food on the table today.
When I apply for jobs that utilize my skills, I hear nothing back. When I applied to deliver packages from Amazon, this woman looked at me and said, "You look like a businessman. You ever work manual labor before?" I assured her that I had, many times, but everyone there knew I was out of place. And they ghosted me three times when I followed up after basically offering me the job.
Overqualified, underqualified, too-cancellable, too old, too whatever. The only thing I know how to make work is working for myself, doing what I do best.
Buying time until the best path becomes clearer is the hard part. But I do think good things lie ahead. I'm feeling very optimistic about the next 6 months.
So, you have my gratitude for your subscription and the sharing of your thoughts. I'm going to go look up Ted and Greg and make sure I'm following.
Ted Gioia's pinned tweet is right over home plate:
"The best people on @X have creative lives outside of the platform.
By shadowbanning links, @elonmusk is destroying much of the value of this platform—chasing away talented individuals and undermining the conversation in awkward, unproductive ways.
This is terrible kind of censorship and runs counter to the freedom of expression that is allegedly a core value of the @X.
#LiberateTheLink""
This. All of it. 1000%.
I will say, though, that the shadowbanning of links forced me to figure out the art of the viral thread!
You might like the 15 times technique. It was published in Scott Adams book "How to Fail At Everything and Succeed" I learned about it in the 90's before Scott was a celebrity social media influencer. It's also written about all over the internet and chatGPT probably can give a synopsis.
This was the technique Scott used to become a famous cartoonist. Scott used to have a blog and people would write their profound stories of how it changed their lifes.
Probably stories around the internet. I did it for 6 months. Only once a day. Just write your goal 15 x in a note book and that's it. Forget it. Go about life. Nobody knows why it works, but plenty of theories. Make the affirmation about your future short enough that you will do it. "I am healthy" "I am paid graciously for my writing" etc.. etc...
Yes, Ted is a special guy. I'm only familiar with him this year after I watched an interview with him with Rick Beato. I'm a music geek too. He is a seasoned jazz critic, lifetime professional writer, and now in his older years, he has gone viral. He has the pulse of the direction society is moving.
I appreciate your reflections on the experience of writing: how it's like channeling a dimension of (your own) consciousness. I can relate to that at a certain level, though I am rather unprolific in my own engagement with the written word, and I'm not sure what protocol, if any, would unblock the channel. But no worries, I'm happy you are brimming full with ideas, and I look forward to your reflections bringing a bit of order to whatever chaos 2025 may offer.
I've never subscribed to a substack or become a member of somebodies youtube channel so I could enjoy the privilege of making a comment. I just made my first exception.
With the tens of millions of bits of information that are being thrown at you per minute in the online world, occasionally you read a piece that makes you stop and think. Ding, ding, ding, ding....this was the one. And you didn't even have to write about drones, UFO's, Loch Ness Monsters or do a report from your shower.
It's not that you're not a fantastic writer. It's also not that you're a fantastic teacher helping others be noticed online. It's also not that you're content is subpar. You exel at all those things. The problem is you have a shitty boss who won't pay you and millions will figure that out in let's say a couple of years.
Sure, consistent effort. Do what you love and the money will follow. All the self help isms and Laws of Mastery that fill the stacks at Barnes and Noble, but if you have an employers that is Ebeneezer Scrooge, you're work is not paying off...in the monetary sense.
I have no issues with Elon Musk. None that I'm aware of yet. Interesting and enigmatic guy. No problem with his politics as I understand them. It's the entire social media/big tech model. We make the money and you'll have nothing and like it....because you need us. Well, I guess I do have one problem and that's he won't pay the help.
I have no animosity toward him. Run your business the way you see fit. If I don't like it, I won't visit.
All of this was outlined recently by my other favorite substack writer, Ted Gioia in his piece. "Are Social Media Platforms the Next Dying Malls?
"These bunkers were never real communities and never will be. They’re just businesses—often run with distrust or contempt for their users.
From the start, malls were artificial constructs designed to maximize profits for the owners—and this was insufficient to create a true community, a sense of shared purpose, or enduring loyalty.
The same is true of social media. The owners of these platforms don’t even pretend otherwise.
In the last three years, they stopped trying to build communities, and shifted to promoting addictive scrolling and swiping. They manipulate their users with a smug attitude that can only be described as contempt."
You're the talent. Your content brings the subscribers to X. Essentially, you work for Elon Musk or another Big Tech CEO on another platform. Don't get me wrong. I ain't a socialist and I think capitalism is grand. But even in a thriving capitalist society, the worker has to be paid and to them you're just a dispensable prostitute. If you won't do it, they'll get someone else. So they think.
Sure spend the days, weeks, years honing your craft. But your craft deserves more than minimum wage. Keep in mind, I'm not giving you any advice. I'm actually writing to myself who has thought about this conundrum that also has unique content but hasn't found the right home for it, but I'm in no rush because I trade financial markets.
Part II so what's next and where do I go? Like Macy's in Miracle on 34th street, I don't have the answer, but I can send you down to Gimbles who might have what you're lookng for. Greg Isenberg on twitter has been writing about all of this for a couple of years. Just some young entrepreneur mind with fluffy hair and glasses that puts out good idea's for other creators.
It seems that we're moving into a period of decentralization... in all things. That's another topic altogether. But Greg talks about the need for online communities and private communities that will fit every Nitch. Not only a space to get your writing on for the things you like to write about but a way to get paid. You're the owner and the talent.
A government who taxes the people and uses it for it's own gain benefits nobody. But if they take that revenue and give it back to the people in the way of public spaces, infrastructure then the wealth is going back from where it came from. Kind of a libertarian concept.
The music business was famous for basically raping great artists. You can't tell some of the greatest talent in the world to work harder. They are already the greatest talent in the room. But if their owners won't pay them, then the problem isn't the work ethic.
I have no idea which platform will help your cause more. Apparently, YouTube does the same to it's creators and other platforms to their creators. And without the creators, these platforms are nobodies. So unfortunately, I can't provide an immediate solution to your pay situation. But I can point out, change is coming and both Ted and Greg are pointing a light in the direction in which social media and online communities will go in the next few years.
Thanks, David. I appreciate all of this, and find nothing to disagree with here.
I know there's a way for my skillset to produce a living wage -- it did it before -- but there is a scramble on right now to figure out how best to make that work in a flood of content. Good work does rise to the top eventually, which is fine, except you've got to put food on the table today.
When I apply for jobs that utilize my skills, I hear nothing back. When I applied to deliver packages from Amazon, this woman looked at me and said, "You look like a businessman. You ever work manual labor before?" I assured her that I had, many times, but everyone there knew I was out of place. And they ghosted me three times when I followed up after basically offering me the job.
Overqualified, underqualified, too-cancellable, too old, too whatever. The only thing I know how to make work is working for myself, doing what I do best.
Buying time until the best path becomes clearer is the hard part. But I do think good things lie ahead. I'm feeling very optimistic about the next 6 months.
So, you have my gratitude for your subscription and the sharing of your thoughts. I'm going to go look up Ted and Greg and make sure I'm following.
Ted Gioia's pinned tweet is right over home plate:
"The best people on @X have creative lives outside of the platform.
By shadowbanning links, @elonmusk is destroying much of the value of this platform—chasing away talented individuals and undermining the conversation in awkward, unproductive ways.
This is terrible kind of censorship and runs counter to the freedom of expression that is allegedly a core value of the @X.
#LiberateTheLink""
This. All of it. 1000%.
I will say, though, that the shadowbanning of links forced me to figure out the art of the viral thread!
You might like the 15 times technique. It was published in Scott Adams book "How to Fail At Everything and Succeed" I learned about it in the 90's before Scott was a celebrity social media influencer. It's also written about all over the internet and chatGPT probably can give a synopsis.
This was the technique Scott used to become a famous cartoonist. Scott used to have a blog and people would write their profound stories of how it changed their lifes.
Probably stories around the internet. I did it for 6 months. Only once a day. Just write your goal 15 x in a note book and that's it. Forget it. Go about life. Nobody knows why it works, but plenty of theories. Make the affirmation about your future short enough that you will do it. "I am healthy" "I am paid graciously for my writing" etc.. etc...
Yes, Ted is a special guy. I'm only familiar with him this year after I watched an interview with him with Rick Beato. I'm a music geek too. He is a seasoned jazz critic, lifetime professional writer, and now in his older years, he has gone viral. He has the pulse of the direction society is moving.
Merry Christmas Steve!!!
I appreciate your reflections on the experience of writing: how it's like channeling a dimension of (your own) consciousness. I can relate to that at a certain level, though I am rather unprolific in my own engagement with the written word, and I'm not sure what protocol, if any, would unblock the channel. But no worries, I'm happy you are brimming full with ideas, and I look forward to your reflections bringing a bit of order to whatever chaos 2025 may offer.