The Depth Trade

The internet used to reward depth. Now it rewards volume.

I remember when sharing something online meant you had actually figured something out. You worked on an idea for months, maybe years. You shipped something that taught you a lesson worth passing on. The post was the artifact of real work.

Now the algorithm favors frequency over substance. So people adapt. They sensationalize. They trade insights for impressions. A half-truth that gets clicks beats a hard-won lesson that doesn't.

The result is a kind of intellectual fast food. It looks like discourse but leaves you empty and doesn't motivate any further engagement or discovery.

Best writing I come across makes me want to go try things or apply new ideas into new verticals.

The fundamental problem isn't that people want attention. It's that the path to attention no longer runs through doing meaningful work. You can skip that part entirely.

So stop optimizing for what performs. Start sharing what you've actually learned.