Thread by @mariodgabriele

We're entering the Third Wave of Digital Media.

Wave 1 ➱ Monolithic Media
Wave 2 ➱ UGC
Wave 3 ➱ Multiplayer Media

A (scruffy) theory ⇓

I think this applies to different media types. But because I'm a writer, I'll focus on the written word.

Here we go.

1 / Monolithic Media

This is the writing production process we're most familiar with. It's the traditional newspaper process brought online.

One writer creates one piece that is read by many.

1:1:many

2/ UGC

Social media changed the equation. It made it easy for *anyone* to create.

Just as importantly, we learned that everyone *wanted* to create. They wanted to share their thoughts, make jokes, and tell stories.

People wanted to connect.

3/Volume

Though the shift to UGC was revolutionary, the *shape* of creation didn't change much. UGC still has a 1:1:many ratio between creator, content, and audience.

What changed was the volume. Billions of people all started creating at once.

4/Collabs

There was a little shift though. It became easier for "chaotic collaborations" to emerge.

I can reply to your tweet and by doing so, I contribute to the creation. Sometimes that informal collaboration leads to something valuable.

But usually it doesn't. Why?

5/ Chaotic collabs

That's bc everyone on social plays a different game.

One person plays the thread game.
One person plays the meme game.
One person plays the snark game.

It's like asking Picasso, Pollock, Monet to paint on the same canvas. You can't help but make a mess.

6/ Rules

We need rules.

A game without rules leaves the players frustrated by the unfairness and unproductiveness.

The person playing the thread game looks at the meme and says "hey, I was trying to be serious!"

The person playing the meme game says "hey, lighten up!"

7/ Multiplayer Media

What do we know?

- Everyone wants to create
- Collaborations can be magical
- Games need rules

Right now, we don't have a good way to reconcile these truths. I think "Multiplayer Media" is the solution.

8/ What do you mean?

Multiplayer Media sets the rules of a game. As in..

"This is the S-1 Club game. Here's how you play."

Like in roleplaying games different people get different roles. There are knights (writers), squires (editors), wizards (designers), etc.

9/ Why does this matter?

Suddenly, more people can contribute. They're able to do so productively because they understand the rules of the game.

The shape of content creation changes. You get many people creating 1 piece of content, to be read by many people.

many:1:many

10/ Future

I think this is the future of content for many reasons.

- Scalable
- Natural virality
- Defensible, unique content

Instead of a newsletter article written by one person, I think we'll start seeing more pieces written by 10, assisted by 100, edited by 1000.

11 / Crypto

Crypto could play a big role.

By leveraging DAOs, content orchestrators can offer natural incentives and tiering through tokenization.

This is something I've been experimenting on with @jackbutcher.

readthegeneralist.com/briefing/gener…

12 / The Generalist

This is, at some level, what I'm trying to build at The Generalist. I think it's the best way to create value for subscribers.

- Better content thru collaboration
- Transparency around creation
- Opportunity to learn by contributing
- Connect with others

13 / The S-1 Club

One example: The S-1 Club.

- Twitter helps me find contributors
- Contributors deep research
- Contributors connect with each other
- Community watches process unfold
- Community makes suggestions

Could it be done on 100x the scale?

There are a lot of brilliant people who have influenced this thesis. I'd recommend following them

@jarroddicker
@ljin18
@AdamRy_n
@literature
@patrickxrivera

If you want to see what I'm building, jump at the link below.

readthegeneralist.com