The shift away from the follow was led by Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, but no one perfected it quite like TikTok and their ‘For You’ page. Instead of giving users control over what they see based on who they follow, TikTok serves up a feed based on what they predict will be most engaging.

But by leaning all the way into short-form at the expense of long-form, platforms are preventing creators from providing more value to their audiences... and earning more money.

Already we’re seeing an entire ecosystem of companies – Substack, Discord, Dropout, Nebula, Bluesky, OnlyFans, Kajabi, Gumroad, and yes, Patreon – emerging to fill the gap between what creators need and what the major platforms currently provide.

Whereas casual fans might passively see what a creator posts when it’s served up to them, core fans actively want more. They talk about their favorite creator’s work with friends and other fans, they get involved in the creative process, they consider their fandom a significant piece of their identity, and they’re much more likely to buy... See more

Core fans are more likely to energize the rest of a creator’s community by engaging with other fans. In doing so, they can help snowball the fandom into a community that generates value on its own, even when the creator is not posting new work.

Not only does this added value make the community even more appealing for newer fans to want to join, it... See more

“‘The Algorithm’ doesn’t measure what people want. It measures what people pay attention to.”

The way that major platforms currently organize their feeds is all about maximizing attention, watch time, and ad revenue.