Patricia Lee
@patriciaxlee.eth
I just had dinner with a friend visiting the Bay Area. She's a prominent politician in her country, where she can't walk down the street without getting stopped. She set a historical record by winning her election at a young age and built a large social media following. We talked about the various platforms and their distributions. She said the TikTok team courted her early on and guaranteed her *60 million views* if she joined. She turned their offer down. Later, they onboarded her opposition and gave them instant distribution. The reach that TikTok can give smaller creators is incredible, sometimes life-altering. But TikTok can also give reach to select individuals in ways that bypass organic user activity and, in some cases, negotiate political influence behind closed doors. In contrast, it can be hard to get seen on Farcaster. I saw this frustration expressed across many of the 4,000+ casts I went through in 48 hours. I also saw the team engaging with this issue with transparency and experimentation. No one here can be guaranteed an easy path to virality. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. Maybe, in these complex times, it’s actually a reason to stick around.
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Rashed
@rashedur
Powerful reflection. Organic growth might be slower, but it builds real trust and that’s worth more in the long run.
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Patricia Lee
@patriciaxlee.eth
The challenge: People who attract large audiences are key growth drivers and why TikTok actively courts them. But many are not seeking platforms as networks to connect, and instead want the equivalent of television advertisement (broadcasting to as many eyeballs as possible).
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