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Production vs Consumption (Of Content)

The year is 2014 and YouTube is banned in Pakistan. I hear about a game called 'Five Nights at Freddy's' (FNAF) from a classmate and I use a VPN to watch a content creator called Markiplier on YouTube. I remember watching episodes of his FNAF series in 144p because of the horrible VPN I was using. This was my first exposure to prolonged, content consumption and I became a regular watcher of content that Markiplier and other gaming creators published. I was 13 at that time and since then I've had countless channels and niches that I've followed. I'm always in a cycle of diving deep into one rabbit hole and exiting the previous one. As I grew up my tastes evolved and even now they're not stagnant in the slightest. I still find myself finding completely new content creators that I like and fixate on. I've spent so much time watching dudes play video games and I remember nothing of it. Sure it was entertaining, had some laughs, heard some stories that may have influenced me during my teenage years but ultimately I remember nothing from it. Was it worth it (Cue existential dread).

Thankfully, this essay isn't all about me coming to terms with the fact that I've spent an unfathomable amount of time on useless content. I've also watched content creators in useful niches such as fitness, self-help and religious themed content. Here's a piece of writing where I listed a bunch of self help content creators that I've watched over the years, some I still follow occasionally. Most of these individuals have left me with a certain tidbit of knowledge that I still use.

Self Help Content - Productivity Niche [https://any.coop/AAarWF3GR695S5TJgtpYGHYW5GGEB7RATcqozCRuZQvmntkm/self-help-content-productivity-niche ]

I wrote this to explain to someone the deep domain knowledge that I possess about this niche and after finished it I was motivated to write a large essay on consuming content (You're reading that right now)

The most recent groups/ niches/ fanbases whose language and references I've dived head first into has been the Formula 1 and UFC communities. If you put me in a room with an ultra fan of either, I'll easily hold a indepth conversation. However, on the surface, I'm not an open or loud fan of either. I just enter a community, learn all the memes and critical knowledge and then coast. Honestly, this is a skillset I utilize in my professional life as well. I've been in business operations for the last three years and I get to interact with all kinds of technical folk. Software, DevOps, Apps, Electronics, Embedded, Data etc. To produce slides and other formats of documentation for sales and project delivery, I've had to quickly understand what that technical person's world looks like and then talk in their language and produce business ready outcomes with enough nuance that another technical people won't be disappointed or cringe at. This skill helps me a lot professionally but it leads me to hop fanbases of popular culture and learn their niche memes. You can call it a double-edged blade.

I've established that I have delved into countless communities even though I listed just the tip of the iceberg. This community hoping has allowed me to have a breadth of knowledge which I can use to connect with people. Certain niches have given me useful knowledge too (Fitness, Self-Help, Cooking, Coffee etc.) and I've gained a diverse set of exposure. However, I've come to realize that I've felt the most fulfilled when I get to use this exposure to produce something useful or something that expresses how I'm feeling. Following are some examples of content I've made from consolidated information that I casually researched.

There are other examples too but the gist is that whenever I've consolidated information and shared it in a format that may help others. I've felt proud of it. This blog is a start of producing content along that line. I've procrastinated, feared, avoided, perfectionismed (not a word but you get it) long enough and now I've started with a commentary on my content consumption habits. I thought I need to do more, learn more things, be better at writing but now I'm starting this off to build the muscle of production. The plan is to follow this up with more blogs and shift to video content as well so that I can further refine that I have to say, and truly express it in the best way I can.

Until next time,

Saad.