niche

I’ve seen so many videos on TikTok and Instagram lately about the same topics: how to increase your views, your viewing time, your following, your engagement, etc. And the goal is valid, when you consider the opportunities that a strong social media presence, whether it’s personal or for a brand, can offer. I too am interested in growing on those platforms, but there is a but.

The but is that it seems as if the topic of growth and the advice given has become a trend in itself. Those videos are almost always the same, with almost always the same advice. Something along the lines of « find your niche », or « when creating content, you need to have strong hook, conflict resolution, call to action (follow for more!) », etc.

But humans are complex. And personally, « niching down » makes me feel claustrophobic. You most likely have several topics or activities that interest you. It’s what makes you, you. So why shouldn’t show those different sides of yourself? You don’t need to share your entire life, from your kids to what brand of toilet paper you use, but chances are there are several things that you can speak passionately about.

And it always sounds to me like you are expecting something in return. The subtext isn’t very subtle: I’m saying that I’m doing this for you, out of the goodness of my heart, so really you owe me something, even though I’m really doing it for me.

But it really comes down to whether or not you are a good storyteller. And you become a good storyteller by telling your stories, by practicing. You can have the best content strategy in the world, the most wholesome list of hooks in the world and still be a shit story teller.

And the only effect that it’s had on me is that I’ve started to overthink creating content, when there is really no need to associate so much to it, when the surest to get better at it is to just do it, to practice.

Sometimes I want to share a simple moment, the littlest thing that makes me happy, or love my job, or love my life. I want to share it because it’s just too good to not share, in the hopes that maybe it will have the same effect on someone else. But I catch myself thinking something like « I don’t have a hook for this ». Which is ridiculous.

I am not saying that these pieces of advice don’t work. I am saying that you don’t need to have an agenda or an elaborate element of strategy behind every single piece of content that you create.

Sometimes it can be about the simplest moment that makes you happy and content. And if it can’t, then it should.