The sad truth of winning on social media

Cru’s Letter

I’m frustrated with social media… what else is new.

For years, I’ve been trying to crack the code on what’s making it so difficult to “do well” on social media (especially short form platforms).

What I’ve concluded is that the economy of social media is not based on value, it’s based on attention. Now attention can eventually turn into value but the people that consistently get amazing engagement are not wondering “how can I make someone’s life marginally better” when they create a video. They’re thinking “how can I get the most people to watch this for the longest duration?”

Surely both can happen simultaneously but who cares about value if nobody sees it, right?

This is why attention (which can always be captured with ill intent) remains the priority.

So here’s where I’ve gone morally right but strategically wrong:

My thinking with every video was always “how can I help or challenge someone in a meaningful way through this video?”

Pretty silly right?

I’ve had to realize that people are not scrolling on instagram to improve. They find comfort in the endless distraction it provides for their brain and it’s a tough wall to break through because you want to provide value but value is not what people asked for.

Now maybe I’m just complaining here because when it comes down to it, social media is a game and I’m really bad at playing it. I don’t hate the players for that but in a way, this form of communication that has nearly become utility-level in our society is conditioning us to only get attention instead of getting better.

To win in the social media game is very similar to winning in business… it doesn’t explicitly mean you’re winning internally.

My personal goal is to win both and the fun part is that they heavily contradict… here’s to swimming upstream.

My critique of social media is very similar to my critique of the human condition (because they’re basically the same thing):

We are not attracted to what is “good.”

We’re attracted to purpose and unfortunately, there are too many easy ways to find unhealthy purpose in today’s world.

Sometimes I feel like it’s not that deep and then I’m quickly reminded of how much I care to make a difference.

If you’ve read to this point in my letter, I appreciate you because I can tell you want to win and do it the right way. You’re definitely not alone even if it feels that way so when you feel weighed down by the pursuit of being the best you can, know that I’m here carrying a similar weight.

-Cru

P.S. If you want the more of the REAL value content, you should check out a recent video from my main youtube channel. It’s all about the power of being obsessed and actually caring: