the end of Social(s)

So Elon posted…. 🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮Sorry, I got super grossed out about writing this way. But it’s a logical starting point. I’ll try again. Elon shared updates to the X algorithm over the weekend.

Why is this important?

It’s confirmation on the current directives of social platforms. Since I’d bet that most of us aren’t listening to our social managers (or creating) to understand…. I’ll state it clearly. SOCIAL

IS NO LONGER

AN

ACQUISITION CHANNEL

If you think this is a Musk problem, think again. Over the past year, most social platforms (including Linkedin) have abandoned quality and thought leadership for *gasp* entertainment. Last week, Zuckerberg rolled out self-appreciation bots to make sure that creators on Meta would always be swaddled in AI-driven self-gratitude. Even LinkedIn prioritizes short-form videos over informative posts.

So, why is this important?

Great question. Are we abandoning society? Not at all. In fact, we’re still buying in, BUT you’ve got to be a creator to break through. Audience growth doesn’t matter when the platforms are constantly servicing the NEXT best thing. Likely, content will become even more watered down (and desperate) as the ghostwriting and video editing industries thrive. We’re still gonna win on Social Acquisition, though, just in different ways. It’s never been easy to grab audiences from (other) winning content, clean, segment, and qualify through cold email sequences. (Thanks Clay) It’s never been better to reach audiences by winning the reply game. (Take a viral post, break down how to execute it for free, and then apply it to each reply from your now engagement-driving response.)

Ok, so this isn’t new, is it?

Not really, but what is new is that we’re clearly on the downside of social as the dominant UX. The audiences have not reached saturation point yet, but the algorithms’s desperate act of servicing high entertainment content has squarely thrown utility out the window. What also isn’t new is the need for OWNED DISTRIBUTION. Creators and media have long fought to de-platform (and multi-platform) their brands to own distribution. This is why an army of course-selling, community-leading “experts” across the thought leadership landscape exists. I did that for web3 companies for (two) cycles, it’s your most expensive and exhaustive brand asset.

Smart founders are now adopting the understanding that owned distribution comes in many forms but is built on a solid foundation of mapped communications. 

The Money Shot…

The most valuable asset of 2025 for your business is sequenced messaging built on personalized user experience. It sounds mysterious, but it’s totally manageable with AI.

Ask me your top questions about the experience in our comments and I’ll incorporate the answers into next week’s “invoice”. -Grady