Here’s the full quote, from this transcript, for anyone interested:
Mark: Yeah, so I think that that’s quite possible. And I do think that there is this cycle that goes on where, you know, within a society, it’s not just the government that has power. There are certain people who, in these culturally elite positions— and, you know, journalists, TV news anchors— who are the people who people broadly trust? They’re not all in government. A lot of people in other positions— it’s like, who are the people that people look to?
I think that basically it needs to shift for the internet age. And I think a lot of the people who people looked to before, they’re kind of realizing, hey, they weren’t super honest about a lot of these issues that we faced. And I think that’s partially why social media isn’t a monolithic thing. It’s not that people trust Facebook or X; they trust the creators and the voices that they feel like are being authentic and giving them valuable information on there. So there’s, I think, going to be just this whole new class of creators who basically become the new cultural elites that people look at and say, “Okay, these are the people who give it to me straight.” And I think that that’s— that’s a thing that is— maybe it’s possible because of social media. I think it’s also just the internet more broadly. I think podcasting is obviously a huge and important part of that, too.
I mean, I don’t know to what extent you feel like you got to be large because of social media, or just because it’s the podcasting platforms that you used, but I think that this is a very big sea change in terms of who are the voices that matter. And what we do is we try to build a platform that gives people a voice, but there’s this wholesale generational shift in who are the people who are being listened to. And I think that that’s a very fascinating thing that is going on, because I think that’s what’s going on here. It’s not just the government and people saying, “Hey, we want a very big change here.” I think it’s just a wholesale shift in saying, we just want different people who we actually trust, who are actually going to tell us the truth, and not give us the bullshit opinions that you’re supposed to say, but like the type of stuff that I would actually— when I’m sitting in my living room with my friends, the stuff that we know is true. Who are the people who have the courage to actually just say that stuff? I don’t know. I think that whole cultural elite class needs to get repopulated with people who people actually trust.
Here’s the full quote, from this transcript, for anyone interested:
Mark: Yeah, so I think that that’s quite possible. And I do think that there is this cycle that goes on where, you know, within a society, it’s not just the government that has power. There are certain people who, in these culturally elite positions— and, you know, journalists, TV news anchors— who are the people who people broadly trust? They’re not all in government. A lot of people in other positions— it’s like, who are the people that people look to?
I think that basically it needs to shift for the internet age. And I think a lot of the people who people looked to before, they’re kind of realizing, hey, they weren’t super honest about a lot of these issues that we faced. And I think that’s partially why social media isn’t a monolithic thing. It’s not that people trust Facebook or X; they trust the creators and the voices that they feel like are being authentic and giving them valuable information on there. So there’s, I think, going to be just this whole new class of creators who basically become the new cultural elites that people look at and say, “Okay, these are the people who give it to me straight.” And I think that that’s— that’s a thing that is— maybe it’s possible because of social media. I think it’s also just the internet more broadly. I think podcasting is obviously a huge and important part of that, too.
I mean, I don’t know to what extent you feel like you got to be large because of social media, or just because it’s the podcasting platforms that you used, but I think that this is a very big sea change in terms of who are the voices that matter. And what we do is we try to build a platform that gives people a voice, but there’s this wholesale generational shift in who are the people who are being listened to. And I think that that’s a very fascinating thing that is going on, because I think that’s what’s going on here. It’s not just the government and people saying, “Hey, we want a very big change here.” I think it’s just a wholesale shift in saying, we just want different people who we actually trust, who are actually going to tell us the truth, and not give us the bullshit opinions that you’re supposed to say, but like the type of stuff that I would actually— when I’m sitting in my living room with my friends, the stuff that we know is true. Who are the people who have the courage to actually just say that stuff? I don’t know. I think that whole cultural elite class needs to get repopulated with people who people actually trust.