The price of fame isn’t selling out. It’s becoming boring.
Creators start off raw and real. Then, they get famous and turn into a neutered self-help guru.
It’s by design, I guess.
You can’t be edgy, polarizing, or controversial when catering to a wide audience. That’s the cost of widespread appeal.
Of course, the other end is you become more polarizing and controversial for the sake of it, and social media algorithms.
But for the most part, if you want to cater to men, women, teens, adults, your grandma — you gotta be placating.
The perfect example that comes to my mind is — Mark Manson.
Long ago, he was a blogger with edgy dating advice. You go to his blog, and the first thing you notice is him calling you, “Hey Fuckface.”
But now, he is a self-help influencer with boring, rehashed life advice. But with a wider audience and more money. Can’t fault the guy for going his way.
Manson has written lots of books as well. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” was his worldwide bestseller, and he followed up with a few other books I can’t remember. But the bestseller “The Subtle Art…” was meh for me. It’s the typical what could have been a blogpost (and it actually was!) becomes a book.
For me, his best book was “Models.” It is honest, to the point, and, in some ways, unfiltered dating advice for young guys. Alas, the book has been chopped and changed with each new version to cut out the raw aspects and appeal to a wider audience.
That’s the cost of popularity. Your wings get clipped, the balls chopped off. And all you’re left with is politically correct, beaten-to-death life advice sprinkled with a few F words.
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