I have been feeling a little under the weather, so I have been a bit of a bed burrito the last couple of days.

And as a true bed burrito I have been scrolling through what must have been about a million reels.

Scrolling through instagram I came to a very troublesome conclusion, which is that… 

the age of great content is over!

Apart from the occasional pearl, 95% of short form content is really just – empty calories. There is absolutely no effort taken into creating it – it’s empty, it has no soul.

The worst thing is, that it is the “content specialists” and the “marketing coaches” advocating for the creation of this kind of fluff. (normally I really don’t like to sling mud to peers in my field, but this has to be said)

They are teaching their audience that ‘everything is content’ and that you should easily be creating 10 pieces of content in an hour. Which then results in even more bullshit content being spread all over the internet.

And I wonder – what does this content really do for us? Just like empty calories, this content doesn’t actually nourish us…

It only makes us want to consume more, hoping to find a pearl that tickles our soul a little.

I can no longer stand hearing those marketing coaches preach about how to grow an audience by feeding them 7 second video clips of looping nonsense with a click-bate-y title, because well, ‘it’s all about the views’.

But what about the story?! What about your voice?! What about your authenticity?!

Why not using a-minute-and-a-half to TELL your actual story! I find it much more inspiring watching someone expressing themselves with actual words or even a couple of curated moving images, than watching a mundane clip with some title smeared on it having to plough through the captions to find ‘the story’.

I am so over this fast content trend of 7 second clips…

It makes you feel shallow and colourless and it doesn’t do anything for building a brand with depth.

Listen, I still believe that short form video content is an excellent way to create a strong and vibrant brand and grow a loyal audience.

However, I think short form video content is made to express yourself in the form of real stories. Creating longer video’s with authentic footage will eventually result in a stronger connection with your audience since they get the opportunity to actually get to know you.

So… let’s save those long captions for a pretty post, start filming some interesting clips that tell a story and let your content be the pearl we are all so desperately hoping to find!

My point being – don’t create bullshit content and you’ll be fine!