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They don't. Or rather, there is some nuance to this. People value things that have high signal to noise ratios. I will read books (given they have a good review

They don't. Or rather, there is some nuance to this. People value things that have high signal to noise ratios. I will read books (given they have a good review) over articles, or audiobooks over podcasts, both of which I pay for because I know that the signal is high relative to the noise. Creators, should they wish to make money, will move into these higher value productions. One might say that this may not work for all types of content, to which I say, there is always an analogue. Upcoming are paid newsletters where before they were usually free, for example, or in the worst case, people will offer money via Patreon.

benrbray 6y ago
I'm almost the complete opposite. I find that most people with a following don't understand at all what their audience finds compelling about their work. A book or an audiobook represents months or years of intentional thought put into compiling information that they think will sell. Before it reaches my eyes/ears, it has been meticulously edited to remove anything the author / editor _thinks_ I won't be interested in. In contrast, an article/blog post or podcast is much more casual, like the author's stream of consciousness. I get a real glimpse of what their life/experience/work is like, not just the version of themselves that gets past the editing phase. As an example, I'm loving the Trash Taste [1] podcast even though I have zero interest whatsoever in watching content made by the participants individually. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtlC9Sl4_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtlC9Sl4_Q
- learc83 6y ago
  > Before it reaches my eyes/ears, it has been meticulously edited to remove anything the author / editor _thinks_ I won't be interested in. Nearly every single technical book I have ever read has pages and pages of fluff to pad it out to some arbitrary length that the author or the publisher thinks is necessary to make it worth the price. Something similar happens to YouTube videos once the creator stars making a living off them. They start making padding videos just to get something out for the week.

benrbray 6y ago

I'm almost the complete opposite. I find that most people with a following don't understand at all what their audience finds compelling about their work. A book or an audiobook represents months or years of intentional thought put into compiling information that they think will sell. Before it reaches my eyes/ears, it has been meticulously edited to remove anything the author / editor _thinks_ I won't be interested in. In contrast, an article/blog post or podcast is much more casual, like the author's stream of consciousness. I get a real glimpse of what their life/experience/work is like, not just the version of themselves that gets past the editing phase. As an example, I'm loving the Trash Taste [1] podcast even though I have zero interest whatsoever in watching content made by the participants individually. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtlC9Sl4_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtlC9Sl4_Q

learc83 6y ago
> Before it reaches my eyes/ears, it has been meticulously edited to remove anything the author / editor _thinks_ I won't be interested in. Nearly every single technical book I have ever read has pages and pages of fluff to pad it out to some arbitrary length that the author or the publisher thinks is necessary to make it worth the price. Something similar happens to YouTube videos once the creator stars making a living off them. They start making padding videos just to get something out for the week.