My First Newsletter
So, here’s my first newsletter.
I find newsletters an interesting way to produce content, especially in this age of short and long form video content. I feel like my generation (I turn 30 on Friday July 4th, I’m somehow both an ancient crone and also a newborn baby) and younger is gripped by TikTok and YouTube, where everyone is doing “what I eat in a day” or “come with me to the thrift store” type videos. Really mundane things when you think about it, yet people watch it and form a connection to these people’s personalities and activities. Their brand is what keeps people engaged.
Regarding personal brand and the discussion surrounding you as a person being a brand vs. promoting something you do or something you believe in, I mentioned in class the idea of parasocial relationships being part of that. I think a personal brand in the sense of it being connected to your actual life can pigeonhole you real quick in the eyes of your subscribers. I just imagine someone establishing their online identity as maybe this family-friendly, optimistic, let’s say idyllic person and then deciding to try something new or having an emotional moment. It can be jarring and even off-putting to some people who expect you to be this specific kind of person 24/7, and to them it feels unnatural when you’re not.
However, there is a contrast to that, like Caitlin mentioned in class, that you start to get to see familiar names commenting/engaging with your posts and you start envisioning yourself writing directly to them. Which can foster a deeper connection to your audience and in turn, a deeper loyalty to your content. And I kind of love that idea.
As a performer, and the daughter of a performer, something my mom instilled in me growing up was that a bigger crowd is better than a smaller crowd. At least in a live setting. “The more people in the crowd, the more chance you have of at least one person liking what you’re doing” is what she said, “so sing to that one person who likes you.” It’s the same sort of tactic.
Honestly, newsletters seem like the least parasocial way of creating content, even with a personal brand. You don’t even really have to show your face or let people hear your voice if what you’re talking about is interesting enough. Written words create a thicker barrier between you and your audience. With video content, you are curating this much more personal look into your life. But that’s the key word that I think leads to parasocial relationships: curating.
It's easy to parrot that social media is not real life, or that influencers are probably lying to you, but I fear that most content consumers have some level of cognitive dissonance surrounding that. Maybe it’s the thought that “oh, well this person that I like wouldn’t be dishonest or disingenuous”, but that in itself is parasocial if you think about it. People often project their own insecurities and ideals on to the people they look up to and follow. They sort of assign these traits to those they watch/subscribe to/follow based on the glimpses they see of them through their posts. They use those glimpses and fill in the gaps with their own preferences, creating this idealized version of the person in their head as if they truly know them.
Like I said in class, I’m still not entirely sure where I’m going with this or how to intelligently articulate my thoughts on the parasocial aspect. This was a lot of word vomit tbh. It’s just been on my mind lately, since I’ve been seeing some discourse online over an actor/musician that I’m a fan of, brought on by people believing they know him on a deeper level because he’s active on social media. I feel like it’s definitely a legitimate discussion to be had on personal brand and really any type of content creation.