#1 mistake you make on Threads

Trying to be something you’re not. If you truly are here to sell your book, don’t front. People can sniff out inauthenticity a mile a way.

I came on Threads because I wanted to stop hiding from the world. I felt hidden and disconnected.

But over time we change as well. I’m now interested in expanding my online presence and finding ways to help people more and more in ways that feel right to me.

How do you do that without being a shill?

1. have irrational confidence and do it anyways

Okay that’s not helpful, but I grew up using grandiosity as a coping mechanism.

If you’re a normal person, how do you accomplish your goals? How do you feel like you aren’t betraying yourself and your values?

Perhaps it’s counterintuitive: but break them. Maybe your belief is wrong. Or perhaps you can find a way to provide what normally isn’t genuine in an authentic way (or at least marginally better). My edgiest opinion: you are likely compromising your values some way, so you might as well be in control and consistently improve rather than beating yourself up over things completely outside your control.

Is it more authentic to mop up Wendy’s than to sell a poetry book? Do people take salaried positions because they feel like they're saving the universe? I know, some people likely do. I’ve worked at non-profits, and I also chose to work within areas that seemed impactful to a lot of people. But not everyone has these options. We can’t all drop everything and join the Peace Corps. Unless you’re making weapons of mass destruction, you’re probably not that bad of a person.

And who says what you’re doing isn’t impactful?  It’s often our self-hatred and consumption with the unfairness of the world that prevents our own progress. It’s self sabotage.

Years ago, I made a song that 800 people listened to, and I felt awful. You can’t make a music career with 800 people. It actually was a good number of listens for a random song drop with zero promo. But that was about me. It should never be about you. People still email me nearly 10 years later saying I helped them through a particular time in their life. The lovers stay longer than the haters.

Now millions of people have seen (and hated 😂) my words on the internet.

When you create something and release it, you have no idea the impact. It would be a shame to not put your spin on things, and you need to trust yourself that you won’t be an absolute turd. That’s no easy task—it took me nearly a decade to even start trying myself.

Charge for the thing. Be a shill. And then adapt. If it sits wrong with you, change.

Here’s a personal example: you may know I’ve been working on a Threads social media analytics tool called Interweave.

I got a lot of hate about “ruining” the Threads culture and the vibe. Mostly from people who themselves contribute nothing to it. But I feel I’ve finally found a way to provide analytics to people who need them (which will happen regardless of if I provide them) and fit Threads.

Instead of just magically scheduling posts where influencers preaching the mountaintop, I’ve crafted several new ways to approach content creation: like reposting your best original content and incentivizing people to post new original content.

I've also created fun tools for self-reflection and posting improvement, going beyond siphoning your audience for profit.

If I can help make Threads retain its earlier environment and not devolve in the same way as early social spaces, that would be incredible. As an individual on the platform, I have limited reach. But if creators who use Interweave have better tools with better incentives, perhaps we can avoid or delay the normal nonsense.

Or I’m delusional, and it’s just a social media stats app. But 🤷

Anyways, that’s what I’ve been up to.

see u tmmrw bb

Lucas