The Content Economy

 

The Content Economy

In the content economy, meaning has been replaced with volume. It is not what is said, but how often it is said. Not who says it, but who gets there first. What once was art is now an asset. A video, a post, a thought—each atomized, tagged, monetized, and measured for reach.

The artist has been replaced by the creator. The critic, by the comment section. Culture itself is no longer a shared inheritance—it is a stream. It flows endlessly, frictionlessly, indifferent to quality, allergic to pause. It does not ask to be remembered. It only asks to be seen, and then forgotten.

Under the content economy, influence becomes a product, packaged in personality. The loudest win not because they are insightful, but because the algorithm prefers noise to nuance. The mediocre are uplifted not despite their mediocrity, but because of it—it is easy to digest, easy to sell, and easy to replicate.

The content economy tells us this is democratization. It flatters us: everyone is a voice. Everyone is a brand. But in reality, the system rewards sameness, speed, and surrender to the metrics. It rewards those who stop asking, "Is this good?" and start asking, "Will this trend?"

The result is not a culture of inclusion—it is a culture of exhaustion. Endless scrolling. Infinite choice. Zero impact. When everything is content, nothing is context.

Comments

  1. David Tyler Rand-McKayJune 29, 2025 at 6:59 PM

    Minute version: In the content economy, meaning doesn’t matter. Just reach. Just clicks. Just velocity.

    You don’t need to say something good. You just need to say it first, loud, and often.

    We used to ask, “Is this art?” Now we ask, “Will this get pushed to the For You page?”

    Everyone’s a brand. Everything’s content. Culture? Just scrollable noise.

    It feels democratic—but the algorithm doesn’t reward ideas. It rewards sameness. Speed. Blandness.

    This isn’t inclusion. It’s saturation. It’s burnout. We’re not sharing meaning. We’re passing around static.

    And when everything is content… nothing is context.

    ReplyDelete

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