The internet sucks now. It’s bloated with AI-generated content pulled from already aggregated information — a copy of a copy. It’s fake: Photoshopped and filtered selfies, pictures with fancy cars and private jets while hiding mountains of debt, scripted short-form videos of bad actors hoping to become influencers (yet influencing nobody; we should call them wannabe internet celebrities).
When you make a living online, you have to create content. Growing up, it was enough to make anything. The internet was spacious, like the ocean described in novels written before the Industrial Revolution. Now, it’s the Great Pacific garbage patch. Miles and miles of mass-produced digital trash. It’s not enough anymore to provide useful information. A dozen dumpster trucks full of people have already provided the same information. To stand out, you need to be useful and entertaining.
The podcast I co-host targets digital marketing agency owners. If you set half of the aforementioned dumpster trucks on fire, it would be a fair representation of the industry. The fiery half is full of wannabe tech bros and boss babes; they are inept, but entertaining. The other half holds the traditional businesspeople, who are skilled but incredibly boring.
Social media algorithms favor frequency. You are incentivized to entertain regularly (or alternatively, you are penalized if you don’t). In terms of pure monetary potential, it is the most advantageous to pimp out your life. Stretch the truth. Make outlandish thumbnails. Be embarrassing in public. Dance monkey, dance.
It is no different from Hollywood actors or UFC fighters. You have to talk to be relevant, even if what you say is wrong or you regret it because it’s better than saying nothing. It is a calculated risk with exponential upside and little downside — as long as you don’t get sued, people will simply forget about you.
Some people’s real-life identities match their online personas. Of the ones I’ve met, if they’re better for it, they seem to do exceptionally well. For others, it’s a gimmick. I can’t count the number of times I’ve talked to someone who somebody else told me has a controversial online persona, but they were extremely nice and polite. Traditional celebrities are all actors to some extent. I expect the same from the internet.
The motives for everyone are different but can typically be reduced to three: Money, fame, and respect.
For me, it is entirely about money.
I’m just trying to put enough into Vanguard until I can afford to disappear.