The Bouillon Cube Edition

On social media, brevity, and creativity

Colin here. Last week I was trying to figure out how to reprogram the driver's seat setting in my car. After a quick Google search, I landed on a YouTube video queued to the exact moment explaining what I needed. Thirty seconds later I was ready to drive. The normalcy of that experience gives a sense of just how big YouTube’s reach really is. I could have said change the batteries in my smoke alarm, add RAM to my computer, or reupholster my couch and I would have been just as quickly whisked away to the perfect video to solve my problem. Youtube killed the instruction manual. It didn’t happen overnight, but what started as a repository for media is now the Library of Alexandria for DIY. While it certainly does a lot of other things, it’s that particular use case that seems like the most concentrated version of the platform.

Why is this interesting? 

Like a lot of people, I’ve spent a lot of time across various social platforms during COVID. Aside from casual scrolling, one of the games I like to play is to figure out the secret sauce that makes them what they are. Or what they are destined to become. 

TikTok was clearly the platform of 2020. While questions about data privacy still linger, it has unquestionably become a cultural juggernaut. But lost in the conversation and prognostication of the negatives is just how interesting some of the formats are that are taking shape. In many ways, TikTok feels like the conclusion of the content atomization we’ve been seeing over the last decade.  What was once a longer film, has shrunk into a social video, has shrunk into an Instagram story, until it finally became a perfectly formed TikTok.

What is amazing to me on TikTok, when you parse it, is just how tightly packaged some of the content is. This is particularly true for the instructional and DIY videos. Like on YouTube, creators have found ways to take everyday questions and tasks and present them in an easy-follow-format. Unlike YouTube, the additional constraints of the platform (both length and video size) have made for a kind-of creative explosion when it comes to explaining ideas succinctly. It is astounding how some creators are delivering an incredible return on attention: whether it’s how to make a complicated dish, how to allocate your 401k, or why this apartment that just opened up in the West Village is the one for you. What on TV would be a cooking show and on YouTube would be a three-minute video, is a quick-cut driven thirty-second blast of information without a word or moment wasted. Some of my favorite accounts are language teachers who are perfecting the form, adding a bunch of sass and sensibility into their offerings while still delivering the goods and how to say “hello, I’d like a table and a glass of wine.” 

What’s interesting to me across these platforms, whether it is Instagram, TikTok, Snap, or otherwise—is what I like to think of as the bouillon cube effect. Each one forces a topic to be reduced into its unique strongest essence. When it works, it is powerful. And when it comes to informational or educational content, it is amazing what you can learn or pick up quickly. Next time when you find yourself doom scrolling try tapping into Excel tip or Arabic instruction TikTok. (CJN)

Chart of the Day:

From this excellent article on the digital transformation of cars (and a great build on last week’s Semiconductor Edition). (NRB)

Quick Links:

• The Unreasonable Ecological Cost of #CryptoArt (Part 1) (NRB)

• I was looking for the source of the famous Jeff Bezos quote about being more interested in what won’t change than what will and found it in this 2012 conversation between Bezos and AWS CTO Werner Vogels (NRB)

• The Unsettling Truth About the ‘Mostly Harmless’ Hiker (NRB)

Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)

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