The best UGC platforms reduce the friction to be a star

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Originally posted January 2021 • Link to Twitter

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TL;DR

The best UGC platforms reduce the friction to become a star and key in on one's innate desire to get paid, laid, or made. Examples include TikTok (reduces the friction to be a YouTuber), Onlyfans (reduces the friction to be a pornstar), and Substack (reduces the friction to be a writer).

Let's start with a few definitions.

• UGC (User-generated Content) platforms rely on user-created content at the core of their product. Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Clubhouse and many of yesterday and today's most popular apps are UGC platforms. They are distinct from proprietary content sites like The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and the like.

• Stars we will simply define as something one wanted to be as a child or adult. Stardom, in this sense, may not come with a ton of fame (astronaut, radio host) but would come with a huge sense of fulfillment (teacher, real estate agent).

• Paid is one's desire to improve economic status and provide for ourselves and loved ones.

• Laid is one's desire to improve the likelihood of having sex.

• Made is one's desire to improve social status. Eugene Wei's Status as a Service and Julian Lehr's Signaling as a Service go into depth on how I will define becoming "made."

Examples

The table below covers examples of today's and tomorrow's products, the stardom they reduce friction to achieve, and the human desires they tap into. The way to read the below table: TikTok is reducing the friction to be a YouTuber (an occupation only recently legitimized). Being a YouTuber keys in on one's desire to get paid, laid, and made.