hot takes on podcasts

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: hot takes on podcasts 🎙️ 

i’m not a huge podcast listener. i’m more of a visual consumer (videos, books, text etc.) over audio, so podcasts don’t hold my attention very well. i’ll get right into rapid firing a few supposed hot takes.

1) reading > listening to podcasts 🎧️ 

listening is too passive for me — the content just goes in one ear and out the other. i can easily listen to music while reading & retain the textual information, but i can’t listen to a podcast while doing something else without forgetting everything i just heard.

my visual stimulation holds stronger as i have a tendency to tone out music as background noise, and the same applies to any audio. loud baby crying on the plane? give me like 10 minutes and i won’t process it anymore. 👶 

if i really like the topic of conversation in a podcast, i’ll opt for reading the transcript instead. with text, i can more easily keep track of key phrases/learnings — all i have to do is underline it. with audio? i’m going to have to make a mental note of it, write it down, or go find it in the transcript to copy paste out.

2) not everyone needs to start a podcast 💀 

i’m sure you’ve seen the podcast bros … some people just should not be starting podcasts. i’m sorry, but not all thoughts need to be shared. 😭 

with people starting podcasts left and right without any concrete premise, the best practices and quality of content dwindle (as it does with every form of content to be honest). i’m all for giving everything a try. go for it if you want to start a podcast. be silly, casual, whatever you want, but there should still be some sort of substance, even if it is just for fun!

3) podcasts aren’t as effective at building community 👯 

most successful podcasts with huge followings eventually switch their marketing over to focus heavily on video-content for tiktok or youtube. this is because face time is more effective at building community, and large creators eventually realize this. listening isn’t enough, people need to see who/what they’re signing up for. ✅ 

the other side is large creators that already have their own loyal following then pursuing a podcast side hustle. long-term success in media is all about community. with no community, you might have your 5 seconds of fame but there’s no longevity.

podcasts aren’t really my cup of tea, but go you if they’re yours. i can probably count the number of podcasts i’ve listened to on my fingers. 😬 

what’s your favourite podcast?

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