The Power of Quiet Influence
I’ve been tracking a shifting something lately: communication channels going underground, back to whispers. We’re going offline.
Neatly summarised by the very smart James Kirkham ->
We’re all familiar with eternally on-point "The medium is the message," as Marshall McLuhan told us in 1964. So what message are we sending when we shift from public feeds to selecting Close Friends? From viral campaigns to closed WhatsApp groups?
We're saying: connection matters more than attention.
Finally, after years of our social media-saturated, always-on, mobile-first culture sending a clear message: attention is currency, loudness equals value, and visibility trumps substance.
You are one of many, eat my slop.
But that's shifting, at last.
“In a culture that flattens everything into content, what stands out are the things that resist being flattened.”
Kyle Chayka, Filterworld
After over a decade of desperately seeking virality, we’ve reached a point where there are entire agencies promising it by design. To which I ask: if anyone can buy virality, why bother?
Talk to anyone who’s actually experienced it - it sounds legit horrible. Not to mention fleeting.
Plus, with the AI content slop generator now dialled up to 11, stepping away from the mainstream feed is just a really smart move.
I said it last year, and I’ll say it again: we’re heading toward a reckoning and reimagining of the enshittified internet. Those who move early - those who disenshittify, who invest in real connection, not manufactured reach - are the ones who’ll benefit in the long term.
“They tried to rig the game, but you can’t fake influence.”
Kendrick Lamar
Take Nikita Walia’s upcoming Wellness essay for example: it won’t be published for everyone. It’s available by request only, limited to a specific number of recipients. Not a marketing gimmick but an intentional choice to encourage meaningful engagement and connection. (To express your interest, gohere.)
See also: Kel Rakowski’s upcomingThe Unposted: a physical zine of works-in-progress, handpicked and curated from community submissions. Not algorithmically sorted, not hyper-optimised for maxxxx reach. Just real, intentional human curation.
After a decade of desperately seeking virality, we're finally coming back down to earth.
The Perks of Stealth Mode
Diving into the backchannel chats instead of the main feed represents a total rejection of performance marketing's obsession with scale and speed. It centers on something that can't be automated, bought, or hacked: genuine, existing human connection.
Simply put: it’s the antithesis of ‘growth hacking’. Rejoice.
Afterall, in opting for stealth mode communications, we’re valuing 1:1 connections over everthing else. What are they interested in? What will they share? Questions that we need to dig into before creating anything.
A return to the art of conversation and genuine connection could have far reaching benefits beyond a nice campaign activation.
"The internet is mundane. Real life is where the action is."
Sean Monaghan
So, What Does This Mean For Brands?
Well, first things first: have FUN with this.
Get curious, get inquisitive. This is a great testing and learning opportunity to…y’know actually connect to your most engaged customers instead of locking yourself into a posting prison of ‘more’.
Secondly, it’s more essential than ever to get clear on the prioritisation of your marketing calendar. I know, I know, everything is important. But there are always some projects perfect for an under-the-radar release.
Again: test and learn. Start here:
Listen more than you speak. Connect with your current audience more deeply to understand the private conversations happening around your brand. Go where the conversations are happening: Slack, discord, reddit to name a few.
Value quality over quantity. One engaged connection is worth plenty more than thousands of dead-eyed impressions. What actions are you taking to prioritise the audience you have over the potential unknowns? Remember: Depth > Breadth.
Create for sharing, not for showing. Design content people will want to pass along to those they care about. That means leaning into your unique perspective, digging up true value and insights or desynchronising with the algorithm and remembering your singular creativity.
And for anyone looking to explore this in greater detail,
Matilda Lucy's newsletterBroken Growth is essential reading. Her article "Alternative models for content distribution and community building" offers an actually practical roadmap for social media alternatives that prioritize depth over breadth. You wanna read it.
Cheers to a Quiet Future
Yes, our ears are definitely still ringing from the deafening me-first feeds of the present day but the whisper might just become the most attractive sound in the room of the future.
Think of the quiet influence of that person at the dinner table, the quieter one everyone leans in to listen to. We all know at least one person like this, right? That’s the goal.
And sure, the shift won’t happen overnight. Like all meaningful change, it takes vision, patience, and a bit of unlearning.
But the brands who embrace it? They’ll build something richer, stickier, and real.
Worth it.