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I talked to 3 friends over the holidays about a model I have in my head for classifying all the media I consume because I’m that kind of nerd, and I want to share it because I think it’s useful for folks who care about content, whether that’s as a creator or as a consumer.
>It’s also just fun to make up graphics and pretend like I know things about stuff, so buckle up for some chart art.
The model is pretty simple. It combines two well-known spectrums together: the purist-tourist spectrum, which Virgil Abloh came up with and has been discussed in creative circles forever, and the timely-timeless spectrum, which is a marketing 101 idea. I’ll elaborate on both below, but here’s a visual to start.
Let’s unpack this a bit. On the x-axis, from left to right, we have the purist-tourist spectrum, which covers the range of target audiences that a piece of content might have. A purist is an expert or someone with domain knowledge. They’re high context people who can appreciate the finer things in their niche because they know what to look for. A tourist on the other hand is a low context person that’s new to a niche but keen to learn.
Side note: In this framing, “tourist” does NOT carry the negative connotation of not-belonging that it usually does on social media… instead, it’s meant to signal fresh eyes and curiosity.
Next up, on the y-axis, from top to bottom, we have the timely-timeless spectrum, which covers the range of how time sensitive a piece of content is. For clarity, let’s say that “timely” means responsive to the present discourse and “timeless” means evergreen.
When you slam these two spectrums together it creates 4 quadrants with different characteristics, and I labeled those with different grey boxes to denote the kind of creator that makes content at each intersection. I’ll define each of them quickly.
Clockwise from top left we have:
Insiders. These creators make content that’s timely for purists. They’re very plugged into the web of people and information in their niche, and they have access and insight that’s highly esteemed by other insiders.
Scouts. These creators make content that’s timely for tourists. They go deep into new topics like insiders do, but they’re focused on making complex ideas accessible to a wider audience.
Guides. These creators make content that’s timeless for tourists. They focus on curating the core ideas in a niche and explaining them to new people.
Artisans. These creators make content that’s timeless for purists. They go deep on topics and add original insight to their domain. Often this sort of content becomes canon and is referenced by other purists.
Let’s rip through 2 examples in real life to illustrate this further: tech media first, then crypto media second. Feel free to read both or skip to the topic you resonate with most.
Here’s a tech media mini map with some example brands/creators. Starting from the top left and going clockwise we have…
TBPN. The Technology Business Programming Network is insider media. Jordi and John host a 3-hour daily show covering The Current Thing in tech. They have a massive fan base because they’re high trust people that are widely connected and their content is very aware of the niche they operate in. It’s timely content for purists.
WSJ Tech News Briefing. This particular Wall Street Journal podcast is an example of scout media. They have good, bite-sized coverage of tech industry news that I can send to my college friends without context to help them understand current events. It’s timely content for tourists.
Wired: 5 Levels Series. My favorite example of guide media is this series that Wired does where they find an expert in a deep tech category like machine learning or zero knowledge cryptography, then they get them to explain their subject at different levels of complexity with an emphasis on education. It’s timeless content for tourists.
Acquired. This podcast is the epitome of artisan media. Ben and David publish ~10 episodes per year that spend 3+ hours each covering a well-known business like Google, LVMH, or the NFL. Every episode has a long shelf life and millions of people make time to listen whenever an episode drops. It’s timeless media for purists.
Next up, here’s a crypto media mini map with some example brands/creators. Starting from the top left and going clockwise we have…
CounterParty TV. Threadguy is one of the biggest steamers in crypto, and CounterParty is his company and daily show. It’s an example of insider media because he gets the best guests in the industry to come talk about current topics, and people tune in because they get to hear from folks who don’t otherwise do interviews. It’s timely content for purists.
CoinDesk Daily. As one of the oldest publications in the industry, CoinDesk publishes a lot of content, but their Daily series is an example of scout media. These videos cover what’s going in crypto in terms of regulation, price action, and company announcements in a way that's accessible for people who just want to follow along with headlines. It’s timely content for tourists.
Coinbase’s Earn series. This video series was an entry point into crypto for a lot of people. It’s an example of guide media because back in the day it helped newcomers learn about the industry with the added incentive of letting them “earn” some coins in the process. Even though it was technically corporate media, I think it fits well as an example of timeless content for tourists. The videos are still helpful.
Cobie’s essays. Cobie’s essays are the best example of artisan media that I can think of in crypto. I’m not sure whether he thinks about his writing like that, but in terms of essays that get referenced as canon in the industry his stuff is at the top of the list. There’s something shiny about distilling a decade of experience into a few thought pieces. It’s timeless media for purists.
Now, there are lots of ways to analyze both the tech and crypto charts. We could geek out in 34 directions if this was an in-person chat, but to keep things tight, I’ll only share one pattern I notice before moving on, which is that purist media (in any domain) tends to be a point of reference where groups of people gather around the same podcast, essay, or video and use it as shared context… then on the flip side, tourist media tends to be an individual exercise in downloading knowledge like that scene in the Matrix where Neo learns martial arts by being plugged into a computer.
TLDR: Purist content is social in nature while tourist content is not.
Ok this is the part before wrapping up where I have to admit that there are some problems with the mini map we’ve been using. An obvious one is it’s rare for creators and brands to fit cleanly into a single category, and the grid struggles to capture that nuance. There are other good critiques as well – we’ll see if they come up in the comments – but friction aside, I like this model because it helps me make sense of media in different niches.
There’s a quote from an old statistician that’s relevant here which is, “all models are wrong, some are useful,” and that’s the thought I want to end on. Even though these things have pros and cons, I think forcing a model onto the world is a worthwhile exercise because that process helps you understand where it does reflect reality and where it grates up against it.
You learn just as much in either case.
-BR
P.S. Here’s an empty version of the mini map if you want to play around.
