You probably know quite a bit about your favorite online guru’s personal life. That's not an accident—when facts are everywhere, personality becomes the product.
The internet made information free, and AI is making it abundant. When knowledge is that easy to access, it stops being the reason we follow anyone. You no longer need a travel influencer to tell you where to eat in Tokyo, for example: Your agent already knows your favorite cuisines and how much you’re willing to spend, and it can serve up a list that’s every bit as good as what you’d find on Instagram.
And yet we still follow people. That’s because what can’t be artificially generated is the person and experience behind the take.
Take Scott Galloway, one of the most prominent business voices online. On paper, his podcasts and newsletters cover the same ground as every other commentator: markets, earnings, Big Tech. But he threads his life through the analysis. He’s still grieving his mother. He finds comfort in his Great Dane. He feels unmoored after dropping his son off at university.
People don’t tune in for the summary of an earnings call. They tune in for Scott.
Everyone can write on the internet now, but what sets a voice apart is the life that shaped it. The thought leaders who share their stories, especially the vulnerable ones, will be the ones we trust.
