This articulates something a lot of people feel but haven’t been able to name yet. The internet’s middle class isn’t flashy, but it’s steady, sovereign, and quietly powerful.
The distinction between adrenaline and infrastructure really lands. So many creators think they have a motivation problem when what they actually have is a systems problem. Coherence over chaos is the real unlock.
Also appreciate how clearly this reframes monetization as trust made visible, not something bolted on at the end. This feels less like a growth manifesto and more like a sanity manifesto, which is exactly what this moment needs.
You're so right. I quit the so called "social" medias. It became just draining and empty; not designed for human anymore. We are pushed to acting like machines to feed the machine and help it to look like more "human" to turn us into biological machines. Quite silly...
I felt the push to build authentic interactions through email and found it so much more rewarding; these were real, not defined, as you wrote it "by fame or reach, but by sovereignty", "actually helping someone come to important decisions and make a transformation they’ve been trying to achieve for years".
I felt Substack was the "internet quiet corner" I was looking for, the place to be for this kind of mindset. So I decided to open an account yesterday, after reading an article explaining how the algorithm here is designed to help you. Wow : such a change !
Then, a few hours ago, I stumbled on your post "The Substack shift" that sounds so true, making me quite sad, questioning if building anything here would be worth it. Your concept of internet middle class opened another door; real people "craving authenticity, coherence, interpretation", "fully aligned with your voice" is something I could experience within my email community.
I started to quote some of your words and ended to download your whole post ! As someone said it "articulates something a lot of people feel but haven't been able to name yet". Very helpful and heartening. Thank you Benjamin 🙏
Strengh of good values proves itself over the flash, hype, and socalled speed yet once again. Value not false praise (hype) is what really sells the product or idea. Always has. Internet is just the newest way to communicate, like radio in the 1930s but now two way communication.
Its taken a bit of time to prove out over the first wave, but its here now. The new social contracts are written not in brick structures but in the mind's eye, in the legal structures to hold thieves at bay (trust) and not in millions but thousands. A few 100s of LOYAL customers outweigh the millions (they really dont exist) of those that see..shop...dip away.
Those that satsfiy the needs grow. It is not enough merely to give a product for money value -- never was not that -- but to reconize the customer is HUMAN not a buying machine. Thus the emerence of a "class" of people is the reemergement of the older set of values that built the nations of today.
Love this, finally, a roadmap for creators that doesn’t involve selling your soul to the algorithm or praying for virality. Sovereignty over scale, trust over reach, infrastructure over adrenaline…feels like someone handed the internet back to us and said, “Here, build something that lasts.” Consider me taking notes…in triplicate.
People have always been obsessed with fame, regardless of the medium which makes it possible. And still, those with consistency, resonant insight, and deep care for the community forming around them (or through them) have always been the ones that feell most genuine.
They don't depend on trends of the time, but on the connections they build through their distilled and targetted authenticity.
Seems it's quite the same today, we just have more avenues that enable us to build and connect more effectively.
Great article once again. Thanks for the groundation, momentum, and validation of what I've been brewing up and preparing to launch.
A very heartening article that gives me hope as I find my way creatively.
Glad to hear that Amra
This articulates something a lot of people feel but haven’t been able to name yet. The internet’s middle class isn’t flashy, but it’s steady, sovereign, and quietly powerful.
The distinction between adrenaline and infrastructure really lands. So many creators think they have a motivation problem when what they actually have is a systems problem. Coherence over chaos is the real unlock.
Also appreciate how clearly this reframes monetization as trust made visible, not something bolted on at the end. This feels less like a growth manifesto and more like a sanity manifesto, which is exactly what this moment needs.
You're so right. I quit the so called "social" medias. It became just draining and empty; not designed for human anymore. We are pushed to acting like machines to feed the machine and help it to look like more "human" to turn us into biological machines. Quite silly...
I felt the push to build authentic interactions through email and found it so much more rewarding; these were real, not defined, as you wrote it "by fame or reach, but by sovereignty", "actually helping someone come to important decisions and make a transformation they’ve been trying to achieve for years".
I felt Substack was the "internet quiet corner" I was looking for, the place to be for this kind of mindset. So I decided to open an account yesterday, after reading an article explaining how the algorithm here is designed to help you. Wow : such a change !
Then, a few hours ago, I stumbled on your post "The Substack shift" that sounds so true, making me quite sad, questioning if building anything here would be worth it. Your concept of internet middle class opened another door; real people "craving authenticity, coherence, interpretation", "fully aligned with your voice" is something I could experience within my email community.
I started to quote some of your words and ended to download your whole post ! As someone said it "articulates something a lot of people feel but haven't been able to name yet". Very helpful and heartening. Thank you Benjamin 🙏
Strengh of good values proves itself over the flash, hype, and socalled speed yet once again. Value not false praise (hype) is what really sells the product or idea. Always has. Internet is just the newest way to communicate, like radio in the 1930s but now two way communication.
Its taken a bit of time to prove out over the first wave, but its here now. The new social contracts are written not in brick structures but in the mind's eye, in the legal structures to hold thieves at bay (trust) and not in millions but thousands. A few 100s of LOYAL customers outweigh the millions (they really dont exist) of those that see..shop...dip away.
Those that satsfiy the needs grow. It is not enough merely to give a product for money value -- never was not that -- but to reconize the customer is HUMAN not a buying machine. Thus the emerence of a "class" of people is the reemergement of the older set of values that built the nations of today.
Interesting ideas. What do you think are the older set of values that built the nations of today?
Truth, honor, faithfulness, trust, and a great desire not to die today at hands of bandits. Not nessecary in that order.
that headline caught my attention. good stuff!
Thanks man. You’re not the only one. Views spiked even if engagement didn’t
i bet...
Love this, finally, a roadmap for creators that doesn’t involve selling your soul to the algorithm or praying for virality. Sovereignty over scale, trust over reach, infrastructure over adrenaline…feels like someone handed the internet back to us and said, “Here, build something that lasts.” Consider me taking notes…in triplicate.
👍🏻👍🏻. It is the only way forward on my opinion
People have always been obsessed with fame, regardless of the medium which makes it possible. And still, those with consistency, resonant insight, and deep care for the community forming around them (or through them) have always been the ones that feell most genuine.
They don't depend on trends of the time, but on the connections they build through their distilled and targetted authenticity.
Seems it's quite the same today, we just have more avenues that enable us to build and connect more effectively.
Great article once again. Thanks for the groundation, momentum, and validation of what I've been brewing up and preparing to launch.
<<< <3 >>>
The people who believed before it made sense to believe.
That kind of trust is a moat you can't code or automate.
Thank you sir for this inspirational and grounding article. Lot’s of things to learn and think about.
Really interesting read !
This is a really smart accessible guide to the creator economy. Thanks for sharing your roadmap!