We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely āE.O. Wilson
Volume 1, No. 2
In a world that moved away from an economy of commodities production for mass consumption, it is individuality and uniqueness that builds, grows, and captures loyal audiences ā at scale ā so it seems.
She appeared to deliver on the promise: Spotify signed deals with the Obamas, Kim Kardashian, and Prince Harry and Megan Markle. But others at the company saw her as inexperienced in audio, and focused on big names over quality content. People familiar with Spotifyās numbers said Michelle Obama, TikTok star Addison Rae, and Kardashianās podcasts were initially successful, but churned users quickly after the first few episodes, rather than developing loyal audiences.
How Spotifyās podcast bet went wrong | Semafor
The old kind of gatekeeping favoured standardised over weird. What comes first when the tables are turned? No editorial standards of quality, perhaps.
Systrom also told me Artifact will take seriously the job of serving readers with high-quality news and information. That means an effort to include only publishers who adhere to editorial standards of quality, he told me. For now, the company wonāt disclose every publisher in its system, but you can search for individual outlets within the appā¦ Both left- and right-leaning publishers were included; youāll find Fox News there, for example. But Systrom isnāt shy about the fact that the company will be exercising its own judgment about who belongs and who doesnāt.
Instagramās co-founders are mounting a comeback
In the past, organisations were tasked with turning weird humans into standardised cogs. Those cogs may need to connect back to their weirdness today, otherwiseā¦
Once you remove the passengers, the pace and energy increase. As somebody said to me recently, āIāve never fired somebody and not had their replacement be better.āā¦ Hire drivers. They get satisfaction from making things happen, not from blending in. They increase the tempo, confront poor performance, are quick to stand up for the company when somethingās not right, and feel a strong sense of ownership. This is why, at Write of Passage, we will forever reward clear and concrete feedback, especially when itās delivered with care.
Design is a key way to signal differentiation. The toolbox is out there. Grab it and embrace your weirdness.
Iām trying to create a visual system and vocabulary through the AI so I can have my own unique expression connected to my voice. And you can think Iām the kind of chubby bear. My point is, if you learn how to use these tools and you get really good at it, they are force of differentiation and uniquenessā¦ Iām using it like a paint brush. And Iām trying to have it adhere to a specific idea and itās really incredible. I think that idiots or people that just want to churn out crap will make crap. But people that want to use this stuff to do things that very much are their own music, will find a way to do it.
Uniqueness, differentiation and building the next media brand