🔴 It doesn't matter if it's an ad

It’s Black Friday. Lots of emails. Kept it light today.

By the way, trying something new.

Down at the bottom, I shared a bit about the guests I’m recording with next week — if you want to ask them questions, reply to this email.

Maybe we make it a regular thing … but only if you have questions.

— Francis Zierer, Lead Editor

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By Francis Zierer

Isn’t the Instagram feed confusing? Open up the app and go to the Reels tab. Try something for me: scroll rapidly for 15–20 seconds. Spend no more than 1 second lingering on each Reel.

I’m serious. Open up your Reels app. Do it. Scroll.

Were you able to discern how many were posted by creators? How many by media companies? How many by consumer brands?

How many were ads? How many were entertainment? News?

While speaking with the strategist Ben Dietz in October, he asked me to tell him about any good ad I’d seen recently. I mentioned a New York Times profile I’d read about a major Philadelphia restaurateur that morning.

“That’s not an ad, though,” Ben protested.

I disagree. For Stephen Starr, the restaurateur in question, I doubt it matters much to his bottom line whether his marketing team or the New York Times editorial staff produced the article. The effect is the same: building him up as a celebrity figure and selling me on his restaurants.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an ad, entertainment, or news.

In the content economy, the intent of our actions matters less than the effect.

Maybe my brain is broken. I didn’t watch sports growing up, but every Super Bowl, I was one of those people who thought they were smart because they watched the ads (through an ironic and analytical lens, of course — what am I, just another consumer?).

But it’s easy to tell when your television switches over from the Super Bowl to a commercial break. Today, whether on an Instagram feed, in your inbox, or on Twitter, the difference breaks down.

Take Roomies, a short-form video show with 2.5 million likes on TikTok. It’s no different than any other TikTok show starring a group of young comedians. Except it’s funded, produced, and owned by Bilt, a credit card you can use to earn points on rent payments. It’s an ad, it’s entertainment, it’s made by creators, it’s made by a brand. All that matters is that people watch.

Look: today is Black Friday, and (this weekend only) I’d bet 30% off a vacuum cleaner that you have near-identical emails in your inbox from brands, creators, and news companies telling you what to buy. Which one do you trust the most?

This is the point: when, where, and how content is consumed matters less to consumers than who produced it. Intent matters less than effect.

The content economy is where everyday people publishing content collide with organizations using those same tools for corporate and political goals. It’s the middle ground, the arena.

In the content economy, only one thing matters: the combatant’s ability to earn, maintain, and engage attention; the ability to achieve the desired effect.

Brands, media companies, and creators compete for the same attention. Attention is a form of low-value currency that can be alchemized into a number of things, like action, anger, or the most valuable form, trust.

I’ll give credit to the aforementioned Dietz for putting me on to Harry Cheadle’s pitch on the trust economy, which explains the currency neatly:

Typically, the difference between brands, media companies, and creators lies either in what they want to convert that attention into or, more practically, in their tactical advantages.

The hard news for creators is that brands are increasingly hiring people and structuring their processes to gain a speed advantage.

Rosalía released her instantly popular "Berghain” music video on October 27. Duolingo — ever the innovator — had its own version of it out on November 3. It was not a simple video.

Sophia Smith Galer, an independent creator-journalist, was also inspired by Rosalía’s new album. She made a series on the languages used in the album and the saints they honor; right up her alley, she’s a language expert.

And her video, released two weeks after Duolingo’s, with 1 million fewer followers, has 150k more views. Niche knowledge and a typical low-production-value, creator-talking-to-the-camera style can easily beat a big budget.

The field is flattening. But it’s not flat yet.

Use every advantage available to you. Use your ability to curse, to be wrong, to frequently change your mind; everything a brand legal team would kill.

We have yet to see a popular digital publishing platform that is only for individuals or only for corporations. This is America, after all. Legally, corporations are still people, and we’re all in the arena. The only question is whether you know your weapons.

I have two recordings scheduled next week. And if you’re reading this in the massive crush of emails that is Black Friday weekend, you obviously care about the work we do, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to contribute to those recordings.

Kallaway is a video and newsletter creator. His content is focused on new tech and AI. He also helps his audience produce high-quality, engaging content themselves.

Rob Martinez and Julian Mu are independent creators making content about food in New York City — short-form video, long-form video, newsletters, all of it. Together, they produce a series called Martinez and Mu. I’m planning on talking to them about how the food creator meta has changed since they started and how they monetize.

Have a question for either Kallaway, Rob, or Julian? Just reply to this email, and I’ll add it to my list!

Google AdSense lets you choose where ads appear and where they don’t. It’s fast to set up, effortless to manage, and built to help you make more money while keeping your readers happy.

Start earning more with AdSense today.

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