#11: On Newsletters and A Thousand True Fans
Can newsletters help writers maintain online communities in an age of fragmented media platforms?
One of the reasons why I started this newsletter was because I wanted to build a community of people who would value what I wrote.
I was influenced by Kevin Kelly’s insightful essay called A Thousand True Fans. In it, he claims that to be a successful creator, one does not need to have millions of fans - you just need a thousand true ones who are willing to buy everything you create. (Substitute ‘buy’ with ‘read/listen/watch’).
At the start of the decade it seemed like the best way to cultivate a thousand true fans would be through any of the dominant social media platforms.
Want to connect with people in your social circle? There’s Facebook.
Want to attract people with the same aesthetic sensibilities as you? There’s Instagram.
Want to build a community around short, shareable pieces of viral content? There’s Twitter (Now called X.)
Want to talk to people directly in live audio room ‘clubs’? There’s Clubhouse.
And so on and so forth. But what I learned was that community building was easy to get into, but hard to perfect because each platform had its own unique algorithms to gauge what was considered the ‘best’ content. As a creator, you are still at the mercy of algorithms that throw up or pull down your content to the audience based on mass perception.
But lately, even all of these legacy platforms that were known for bridging creators with communities have themselves been put into flux. Two of the main reasons for that are ‘platform fatigue’ - which causes users to become weary of social media - and the rise of ‘alt-tech’ social media platforms that hasten the formation of echo chambers.
So now, the pursuit of dedicated ‘fans’ (readers, listeners, watchers) of your content has become harder because the audience is fragmented into so many platforms and so many bubbles. Some people have taken themselves out of the community because of the noise, while others are content living in their own private social media bubbles.
It also seems that none of these alt-tech social media platforms have truly cracked the code of maintaining relevancy - and thereby, followers. Just take a look at the number of social media platforms that went in and out of vogue in the last 5 years - Vine, Clubhouse, Mastodon, Parler, Truth Social, etc.
Even Elon Musk’s ‘X’ is struggling to maintain relevancy as users complain about malfunctioning algorithms and reduced follower reach. Instagram has now introduced Threads as a potential competitor to Twitter, while an invite-only platform called BlueSky Social has also been touting itself as a Twitter alternative.
However, could newsletters be a mainstay in this chaotic media landscape? At least for writers specifically, they could be, for two main reasons.
One, newsletters give agency back to the user. YOU decide whether to sign up for a newsletter or not, not an algorithm. Like the content? Stay signed up. Don’t like the content? You can unsubscribe anytime.
Also, chances are that someone told you about or shared a newsletter with you because they found value in it, which means there’s added value from a word-of-mouth recommendation.
Two, newsletters rely on a relatively stable platform - email. As long as there isn’t a shake-up in the way we view and read emails, the newsletters you sign up for will hit your inbox regularly. They aren’t subject to the whims of the algorithm.
Of course, a drawback is that newsletters are ‘read-only’ - which means musicians, video creators, and other content creators will find it hard to gain and maintain followers as they did on other social media.
Newsletters also suffer from the danger of ‘passive engagement’ - many users sign up but barely read them. However, the ones that do read, will also engage with the author’s opinions more intently. Writers who value deep, thoughtful engagement will find it a much more fruitful experience.
As Kevin Kelly concludes:
“.... you can aim for direct connection with a thousand true fans. On your way, no matter how many fans you actually succeed in gaining, you’ll be surrounded not by faddish infatuation, but by genuine and true appreciation. It’s a much saner destiny to hope for. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.”
wohoo! Goku is back with yet another refreshing perspective of the invisibles around us. I tend to agree with your points. In today's "free" internet world, where algorithms can dictate what we buy, wear, eat, see, (vote for) any bit of agency gives a welcome sense of control over one's time (and life) :)