I love Twitter and have used the service since 2007. I am also an investor in Twitter and have written about the company (The Great FOMO Trade of 2020). Struggling at times to understand why other people don’t see the value I see in the service, I have often thought: How can curious people not be in love with Twitter?
Then I read Alex Danco’s four-part series on Gift Culture and Abundance (Alex Danco on Gift Culture).
Alex says that we have entered into a new period of abundance that gives rise to gift cultures. “Gift cultures are adaptations not to scarcity but to abundance” and that “In gift cultures, social status is determined not by what you control but by what you give away.”
And boom! it hit me. To fully love and appreciate the power of twitter, you have to give as well as receive.
In the second part of the series, Alex interviews Julie Young who nails the power of Twitter and gift culture. Alex’s question is in italics below, and Julie’s response follows (Alex Danco’s Interview with Julie Young):
The person who has really mastered the concept of gift culture has to be Patrick O’Shaughnessy the CEO of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, a quantitative asset management firm. His podcast, Invest Like the Best, is simply the best business podcast, and possibly one of the best podcasts period. Like Twitter, I cannot believe it is free.
This tweet by “Post M.” (a family office investor I follow) lays out how well Patrick uses Twitter.
By giving back so much in his podcast, Patrick has built an incredible audience, and whenever he asks a question or asks for a recommendation on Twitter, he gets hundreds, sometimes thousands of fantastic responses. Patrick has effectively created a “better Google” out of informed curious people.
So, what I want to do is double and triple down on the idea of giving back more. I’m well on my way: participating actively on Twitter (My Twitter Feed) and starting this newsletter, sharing thoughts and ideas. Now I want to recommend seven people for you to follow, read, and listen to. Their focus is different from mine, but if you like this newsletter, you should enjoy these as well.
1. Alex Danco on Twitter and Alex Danco’s newsletter.
2. Julie Young on Twitter and check out her newsletter, specifically the one on Shopee (NYSE: SE) (Julie Young Shopee newsletter post). I have serious envy from missing Shopee, check out the chart.
3. Anonymous account LibertyRPF on Twitter and LibertyRPF’s Newsletter.
4. Ben Thompson’s paid newsletter, Stratechery, that covers strategy and business models in the technology sector (Stratechery Newsletter).
5. Dan Runcie’s (Trapital.com) Twitter Feed and his newsletter on hip hop and business (This post on Black content on Netflix was fascinating)
6. The Market Ear newsletter which has charts, commentary and insight on what is driving the market (The Market Ear Newsletter)
7. Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s Twitter Feed and his incredible Invest Like the Best Podcast.
And finally, I ask you: How can you give back in this age of abundance? How can you add value online? Maybe you can be more active on Twitter, maybe write a newsletter. Give back, bring something new to the mix and whatever you do, make sure it adds value.