The Achilles Heel Of Social Media

My friend Danny Frenkel, the founder of Punchup.live wrote this guest post. Danny knows of what he speaks of having spent 13 years at Facebook/Meta before founding the email first network for entertainers (starting with comedians).

The Achilles Heel of Social Media

For over a decade, social media platforms have thrived on the sheer size and distribution of their networks. Their power lies in the network effects — the phenomenon where a platform becomes more valuable as more people join. Facebook, for instance, famously leveraged the “20% Rule.” If the platform could achieve at least 20% penetration within a country, the network effects would take over. At that point, organic growth became almost inevitable as users invited their friends, who invited more friends, and so on. It was a winning formula that turned Facebook into a global giant.

But today, social media finds itself in a precarious position. The very foundation of its dominance — the network — is showing cracks.

A Shift in Dependency

In its earlier days, the success of social media hinged on connecting friend groups. Platforms replicated social connections online, developing massive adoption rates and an engaged user base. This dependency on everyday users created an ecosystem where everyone contributed to the network’s value, making the power of the network highly distributed and remarkably difficult to disrupt.

Now, the dynamic has shifted. Social media companies are increasingly reliant on a much smaller group: creators. Creators drive engagement, set trends, and provide the kind of fresh, compelling material that keeps users coming back. While this might seem like a natural evolution, it creates a significant vulnerability for platforms.

The Creator Dilemma

Take Instagram, for example. Its algorithms determine how much a piece of content is distributed. But there’s a reason Instagram will never offer consistent reach to creators. If the platform allowed too much influence to flow to a smaller group of high-performing accounts, it would place the health of the entire network in jeopardy. Why? Because the platform’s value becomes overly concentrated in the hands of a few. If those creators leave, lose relevance, or grow dissatisfied, the entire ecosystem could suffer.

This is a balancing act with no easy solutions. Social media platforms must appease creators while ensuring they don’t become overly dependent on them. At the same time, they must prevent casual users from feeling alienated or sidelined by algorithms that prioritize professional content over personal connections.

The Impact of AI Content

Adding to this complexity is the rise of AI-generated content. Artificial intelligence is democratizing content creation, flooding platforms with more material than ever before. While this increases competition among creators, it also muddies the waters for platforms. How do they balance the influx of AI content with the need to maintain human connection and authenticity?

The result is an increasingly fragile ecosystem. Social media platforms are no longer just competing with each other; they are also wrestling with their own structures and user expectations. The dependency on creators, coupled with the challenges posed by AI, has made it harder for these platforms to achieve the kind of organic growth and user satisfaction they once enjoyed.

The Road Ahead

Social media is at a crossroads. The traditional playbook of leveraging network effects is no longer sufficient. Platforms must innovate not only in features but also in how they support and empower the creators they now heavily rely on.

This shift is exactly what we’ve built Punchup for. Our platform is designed without conflicts of interest—our success depends entirely on helping creators achieve THEIR business outcomes. By focusing exclusively on professional entertainers, we sidestep the moderation challenges other platforms face, creating a space that’s tailored for artists and their fans. We’re not chasing utopian ideals of giving everyone a voice; instead, we’re laser-focused on practical, meaningful goals: helping fans discover new artists they’ll love and giving artists the tools to take greater control of their careers. It’s a simple, intentional approach, but one we believe will redefine how creators and fans connect and in the long run prove to be a much more durable model.

In the coming months, we’ll launch a series of products and announce our first acquisition, taking concrete steps toward solidifying this vision.  Hope you all are looking forward to a lot more comedy and laughter in 2025!