Content Creation and Gray Goo

In which we 'fiat verbas' the crap out of content

In the beginning, was the word.

In the end, there will be a gray goo of content.

Here ends our daily sermon.

With the rise of the internet (and especially its incarnation as Web 2.0 in the mid-2000s), there’s been this subtle shift in how (most) artists present themselves. “I’m not a writer, but a content creator.” Although content in this context usually refers to something written, it’s basically anything we can throw online. TikTok video? Content. Digital art? Content.

Enter social media. Nowadays everyone who wants to has a personal online platform. Sure, most of those personal platforms are merely a few metaphorical inches wide, but they. Are. Everywhere.

Driven by those personal platforms we have arrived in the age of influencers. What makes an influencer? According to this 2021 paper on the psychological challenges of navigating the ‘multidimensionality of social media presence‘:

… what typically differentiates a social media user from an online influencer is the numerical following an influencer has garnered, which enhances the visibility of their content, thus increasing the likelihood of audiences engaging with their posts…

Those influencers are - by definition - also content creators (even if they hire others to make their content). It will not always be written content; photos and video reels do better these days. Those things require less cognitive effort from their followers. This is not a jibe at anyone. In fact, I think it’s pretty normal.

And the reason is gray goo.

The concept of gray goo was first articulated by nanotech pioneer Kim Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation to illustrate the dangers of uncontrollable nanotechnology running rampant:

Early assembler-based replicators could beat the most advanced modern organisms…. they could spread like blowing pollen, replicate swiftly, and reduce the biosphere to dust in a matter of days. Dangerous replicators could easily be too tough, small, and rapidly spreading to stop — at least if we made no preparation.

With a little bit of imagination, that sounds like the 30-second soundbites that travel the virtual layers of our world.

My worry then is this: most influencers will keep doing what made them influencers in the first place, and most non-influencers will mimic influencers because they want to become influencers*.

A lot of influencing going on there.

My worry, phrased differently this time, is that if everyone does what everyone else is doing, we end up with gray goo content stripped of creative color. It has become about copying a trend and capitalizing on the 15 seconds of fleeting attention you can grab from your online audience.

We’re not there yet, I think. The tide may be rising, but we haven’t drowned in the gray goo yet. With the advent of ChatGPT and its offspring, I wonder if it’s just a matter of time?

Creativity is not the key to success as a content creator. Standing out, online or in life, is a risk. Don’t get me wrong, it is still possible to stand out creatively and stumble into great success (however you want to define that). The thing about unicorns is that they’re rather rare.

To not end on a defeatist note: we’re not helpless. Until the recommendation algorithms finally take over fully, we still decide what (and who) we give our attention online. Find those weird little content creators that write or make quirky things. And tell your friends.

I may be writing goo, but I’ll try not to make it too gray.

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* That doesn’t need to imply launching a TikTok trend. Honestly, I find myself thinking ‘Why do some Substacks take off and how can I use that?’ before shaking away the thought and indulging my weird brain.

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Hey you. Thanks for your attention. I do not take it for granted.

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