Wild... Is it possible content is not king anymore?

We've got lots of questions about our digital world... Do you have the answers? Let's chat...

💬 CONVERSATION STARTERS — For our first issue, here are some questions we have for you:

• 👑 So… Who’s the king? Welcome to our new newsletter

  • Poll: what do you think?

  • And where does the phrase “Content is King” stem from?

  • What now?

• 💥 The new ‘Creators Impact’ mini series… What’s the role of creators and influencers in politics and diplomacy?

  • What are our takeaways from our conversations so far? Aaron Parnas, Lia Haberman, Rachel Janfaza, Allie O’Brien, Enrique Anarte, Suzanne Kianpour, Lindsey Gamble…

  • Creators, did you miss this? “Feral” creators, Obama, TikTok, Gen Z, Voter Registration Day, #CasaTikTok…

• 🕵🏼 The good, the bad, and the ugly: but where’s the good?

  • Meanwhile, what is happening in California? Newsom on kids, actors, political ads online…

  • Tech policy people, did you miss this? UN, G20, TikTok, Surgeon General, LinkedIn, Substack…

• 💡 It’s not just about content… Do you get the news on social media?

  • Wanna dig deeper inside the Pew report?

  • Survey lovers, did you miss this? Gen Z, growth, Turkey…

• 💃 Who is saying what?

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👑 So… Who’s the king?

❝Focus on creating authentic and relatable content, rather than production value.❞
— Adam Mosseri

Welcome to the new “Content Is Not King” on Substack!

Obviously, we want to be controversial, ruffle some feathers. In this day and age, is content still king? Or perhaps, content — while still remaining very important when it comes to social media and digital marketing — has opened the doors to a different way of looking at the online and digital space.

“Content Is Not King” aims at asking questions, challenging ideas, understanding, trends, and looking at content as a tool — an important tool — but moving our attention to what we think has really become king in the digital space: conversations and communities. This is where content becomes the hook every content creator masters so well.

We are sure that many do not agree with our premise, that content is not king.

Many will say that without content you cannot nurture conversations. Or that without content you cannot create and engage communities. But, after all, you cannot have content without creators, and you cannot have content without ideas. Does that mean that ideas are king? Content creators are king? Or even social media platforms… Without those, and only following their rules, their terms of service, their new products and features, we can all create content and nurture conversations and communities.

So maybe we need to start to talk about content is a dictator — and somebody mentioned at a recent event I attended. Or, perhaps, the social media platforms are the dictators… Food for thought.

Photo by Liza Pooor on Unsplash

Also, the role of governments, legislations around the world, and regulations have — and continue to — challenge the status quo for social media platforms. This an important discussion when he comes to understanding the role of content in today’s world, both digital and offline.

We certainly don’t want to put too much wood on the fire. Content still remains a very important tool, a very important priority for brands, institutions, creators, influencers, celebrities.

Again, our goal here is to ask questions, not to provide answers. And the question for this first issue of “Content Is Not King” is: is content still king? And: if content is still king, for whom? Or if it’s not, what/who is?

For those of you who already know We Are Digital Diplomacy on Instagram and TikTok, our focus has always been the intersection of social media, technology, artificial intelligence and generative AI with government, politics, diplomacy, and foreign policy. While this still remains our main focus, this newsletter will touch upon many other topics surrounding the conversation around technology, content, marketing, and most importantly, content, creators, and influencers, and how they have changed the way we look at content more generally. 

Poll: what do you think?

And where does the phrase “Content is King” stem from?

❝ Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.
The television revolution that began half a century ago spawned a number of industries, including the manufacturing of TV sets, but the long-term winners were those who used the medium to deliver information and entertainment.
When it comes to an interactive network such as the Internet, the definition of “content” becomes very wide. For example, computer software is a form of content-an extremely important one, and the one that for Microsoft will remain by far the most important. ❞
— Bill Gates

It was January 1996 — almost 30 years ago. Gates posted an essay titled “Content Is King” on the Microsoft website. It stuck with us and became a fundamental principle in digital marketing and advertising.

With the years, a new concept evolved: “If content is king, then context is the queen.”

But why are we still stuck here 30 years later?

What now?

Well, we would like this newsletter to be a place for questions, answers, and conversations about our digital world. Whether it’s social media, digital diplomacy, technology, AI, or policy, we want this newsletter to be a safe, open, inspiring, free-spirited place for all geeks and nerds like us… And all those interested in sharing ideas.

We want to invest in conversations, not content!

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💥 The new ‘Creators Impact’ mini series

A few weeks ago we launched Creators Impact, a new mini-series on the role of creators and influencers in politics, diplomacy, and the media.

We’re humbled by the great response we’ve got and we’re lucky to be able to collaborate with so many talented creators and well-known experts.

What are our takeaways from our conversations so far?

😎 Our inaugural guest, political creator Aaron Parnas:

1. Creators and influencers play a huge role in politics and diplomacy

2. Campaigns are relying on creators and influencers to help get their messaging out

3. Legacy media is dying, especially when it comes to young people

😎 Lia Haberman, a creator economy expert and author of the must-read ICYMI newsletter here on Substack and on LinkedIn:

1. Izea report: 46% of social media users aged 18 to 60 have changed their political opinions due to influence or content

2. Reach and credibility are the top challenges for creators in the space of politics and diplomacy

3. Creators need to think twice and carefully weigh any information they will share 
   So much responsibility comes with the power influencers have 

😎 Rachel Janfaza, a journalist covering Gen Z political culture and young voters in U.S. politics, and author of The Up And Up newsletter here on Substack:

1. The role of creators and influencers in politics and diplomacy is to present facts, information, and perspective to a niche audience that often skews younger or is of a particular demographic

2. More often than not young people are saying that they get their news and info from content creators online or social media

3. Creators often times rely on legacy media, on the work of traditional journalists and then add their perspective

4. There is a symbiotic relationship between creators and journalists

5. Great advice: find a specific niche, something you are passionate about, and become an expert

😎 Creator Allie O’Brien:

1. Creators are able to meet consumers where they’re at

2. They have established a relationship with their followers

3. A lot of traditional media outlets are not on social media in the same way creators are

4. Creators, as digital natives, often outperform traditional media

5. Creators interested in politics and diplomacy are often afraid that being political will ruin their career - it’s absolutely not the case

😎 Journalist and researcher Enrique Anarte: 

1. A lot of people now rely mostly on creators, if not solely 

2. It’s not useful to gate keep journalism 

3. Journalism is something you do, not something you are when you follow journalistic standards 

4. Both journalists and creators have a lot to learn from each other

5. We have a huge issue of trust in journalism and we’re not going to solve it by trying to be someone else

😎 Emmy-nominated journalist and former BBC correspondent Suzanne Kianpour, anchor of the newly-launched News with Suz show and founder of Helmet To Heels:

1. Part of our challenge in legacy media has always been reaching younger audiences

2. How the news is delivered matters as younger generations wants representation and relatability

3. Journalists should be taking creators under their wings and train them to be ‘newsfluencers’

4. Mentoring from experts can limit the dangers from influence operations on social media

5. There is still a bit of a gap when it comes to ‘newsflueners’ versus journalists

😎 Creator economy and digital marketing expert Lindsey Gamble, author of a super popular newsletter on social media, creator news and trends, with actionable insights on this industry:

1. Creators allow politicians to reach a really important audience, the younger generations

2. Creators do a great job in breaking down policies into easy to understand and accessible content 

3. Your voice can bring back other voices that may be in conflict with yours 

4. Use the format that fits you best and consider training in traditional media 

Creators, did you miss this?

• The ‘feral 25-year-olds’ making Kamala Harris go viral on TikTok (Drew Harwell, The Washington Post)

• Barack Obama Jokes He ‘Invented Rizz’ in the Cutest Interview About Gen-Z Slang (Sydni Ellis, SheKnows)

• Creators, tech firms, and Barack Obama are out in full force on National Voter Registration Day (Sam Gutelle, Tubefilter)

• #CasaTikTok: Celebrating TikTok's Visionary Latin Community (TikTok)

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🕵🏼 The good, the bad, and the ugly… But where’s the good?

❝ Social media users lack control over data used by AI, US FTC says. ❞
— Reuters

❝ Social media companies engaged in 'vast surveillance,' FTC finds, calling status quo 'unacceptable'. ❞
— NBC News

Well, you get the gist! These are only some of the headlines regarding a new report released last week by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Federal Trade Commission Report

2.74MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

The FTC calls it “a groundbreaking report that sheds light on how these powerful Companies have operated” — please notice the capital “C.”

“It shows how the tech industry’s monetization of personal data has created a market for commercial surveillance, especially via social media and video streaming services, with inadequate guardrails to protect consumers,” the report explains.

The report highlights how social media platforms and video platforms “engaged in mass data collection of their users and — in some cases — non-users.” The report also points out: “many Companies failed to implement adequate safeguards against privacy risks. It sheds light on how Companies used our personal data, from serving hyper-granular targeted advertisements to powering algorithms that shape the content we see, often with the goal of keeping us hooked on using the service. And it finds that these practices pose unique risks to children and teens, with the Companies having done little to respond effectively to the documented concerns that policymakers, psychologists, and parents have expressed over young people’s physical and mental wellbeing.”

Meanwhile, what is happening in California?

According to a reporting by the Los Angeles Times, “California took a major step in its fight to protect children from the ills of social media with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature on a bill to limit the ability of companies to provide ‘addictive feeds’ to minors.”

California Senate Bill 976, titled “Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act,” was signed by Newsom last Friday.

Also happening in California this past week… Newsom said “California is standing up to harmful deepfakes in political ads and other online content” and, with SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, he celebrated “two new laws ensuring performers' legal rights when negotiating digital replicas & setting rules for recreating performers who've passed.”

Tech policy people, did you miss this?

❝ We remain optimistic about the future with AI and its positive potential. That optimism depends, however, on realism about the risks and the inadequacy of structures and incentives currently in place. The technology is too important, and the stakes are too high, to rely only on market forces and a fragmented patchwork of national and multilateral action. ❞
— United Nations AI Advisory Body

• Governing AI for Humanity (United Nations)

• Pact for the Future, Global Digital Compact, and Declaration on Future Generations (United Nations, Summit of the Future)

• Mapping the Development, Deployment and Adoption of AI for Enhanced Public Services in the G20 Members (G20)

• TikTok goes to court (Sarah Grevy Gotfredsen, Columbia Journalism Review)

• The [U.S.] Surgeon General understands the threat of social media to our children (Marika Lindholm, Psychology Today)

• How to make social media, online life less of ‘dumpster fire’ (Jonathan Bellack, The Harvard Gazette)

• Updates to LinkedIn's Terms of Service [on generative AI training] (Blake Lawit, LinkedIn)

• Introducing a new destination for U.S. election discourse (Substack)

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💡 It’s not just about content… Do you get the news on social media?

❝ Americans’ news habits have changed dramatically in the 21st century. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices. ❞
— Pew Research Center

Here a few graphs from a new report by the Pew Research Center:

Wanna dig deeper inside the Pew report?

Facebook and YouTube outpace all other social media sites as places where Americans regularly get news. About a third of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on each of these two sites.

Smaller shares of Americans regularly get news on Instagram (20%), TikTok (17%) or X, formerly known as Twitter (12%). And even fewer get news on several other sites, including Reddit (8%), Nextdoor (5%), Snapchat (5%), WhatsApp (5%), LinkedIn (4%), Truth Social (3%) and Rumble (2%).

Survey lovers, did you miss this?

• What Gen Z thinks about its social media and smartphone usage (The Harris Poll)

• The Fastest Growing Social Media Platforms of 2024 (Hubspot)

• Turks give considerable support to bans on social media platforms: survey (Stockholm Center for Freedom)

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💃 Who is saying what?

❝ The social media team for the Harris campaign has been killing it. ❞
— Oprah Winfrey

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A post shared by @wearedigitaldiplomacy

Instagram’s Adam Mosseri on growth, video length, stories, reels v feed algorithm…

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🙏 Thank you for reading the first issue of “Content Is Not King.” See you next Monday!