Yesterday, I had an enlightening conversation with a friend David, an experienced writer with a significant following.
During lunch, we delved into the concept of “audience capture”—a concept that points to how once you've established an audience expecting certain content, you're strongly motivated to continue producing similar material, regardless of your genuine interest or natural inclination towards the topic.
I was really intrigued by David’s take on audience capture.
The common view is that audience capture is detrimental. For instance, if you built a following posting a certain form of divisive political content, even if your views change over time, you are incentivized to keep posting things you don’t really believe in. Another example: if your most popular content involves unhealthy practices like consuming 10,000 calories in one sitting, audience capture can literally be deadly to you.
David understands these pitfalls of building an online audience. But has been guided by the following question in his audience-building: ”How can I use audience capture as a tool for self-improvement?”
He believes that building an online audience is not about communicating a complete representation of yourself; it’s always about communicating a part of you—a persona. So why not communicate the most aspirational persona that you genuinely want to embody?
David consciously chose a persona of “writer dedicated to helping others improve their lives by improving their writing skills”. Even on days when he doesn't feel like embodying this persona, knowing his audience expects it—and more importantly that it helps them grow—motivates David to embrace it and be super consistent in his posting.
What a great blueprint for all of us actively building online audiences.
Align your online presence with the most aspirational yet still authentic version of yourself.
Instead of feeling trapped by your audience's expectations, let them inspire you to uphold the high standards you set for yourself. This way, audience capture doesn't restrict you; it is a force for constant personal evolution.