Why I Made a Show About Internet Culture

The internet shapes how we think, share, and connect — but most of us never stop to ask why. 

In this episode, I get into what Stop the Scroll is about, why I made it, and the kinds of questions we're digging into this season.

Highlights:

(00:00) Introducing Stop the Scroll

(01:09) How media impacts society

(01:33) What to expect from the show

(03:28) Who the podcast is made for

(04:07) How this podcast got its title

(09:19) Creating community between the viral moments

(11:05) What this show can do for listeners

Resources:

Subscribe to the Stop the Scroll Newsletter: https://briannadoe.substack.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianna-doe/ 

Verbatim’s website: https://weareverbatim.com 

Transcript

Brianna Doe (00:00):

It's not just about creating something and putting it out there, it's about creating something intentionally that resonates with people. And I love it. I love the psychology behind it. I love understanding myself more deeply. I love understanding other people more deeply and what drives them and motivates them. And I am just so excited about this. 

Hello, I'm Brianna, and this is Stop the scroll. Let's get into the content that makes us stop, click and care.

So my show is called Stop the Scroll, and it's all about decoding virality, why things go viral, what that says about us as a society, what it says about us psychologically, and how we can apply that to the way that we create and consume content. We see things go viral all the time, right? There are probably five new trends today while I'm saying this that are popping up that I don't even know about yet. And as interesting as that is, those trends are going, some of 'em are going to disappear tomorrow and other ones we're still going to be talking about a year from now.

(00:56):

And I think that's so fascinating. What is it about certain types of content or certain types of people or certain inflections in the way a creator says something that makes it really stick in our heads? As somebody who's also really passionate about the film industry, I've always found it interesting how media impacts society and vice versa. It's very much a chicken-and-the-egg situation. You don't know where one stops and one begins, and that seems to transcend mediums. It's across art, it's across the way we consume content digitally. It's across movies, it's across music. And I think the way we consume trends, it's just as fascinating. I'm going to be talking to marketers like the people behind your favorite trends and my favorite trends, content creators, the ones who have maybe been more like one hit wonders and the ones who have created full communities centered around one specific thing that went viral.

(01:50):

I'll be talking to journalists, psychologists, data scientists, and the people who engineer algorithms we're talking about anything across social, anything that goes viral and sticks in people's minds and impacts the way they speak, the way they share memes, the way they share jokes, and also anything in the media. So if a certain event kind of takes over, or great example like Kayla Nicole when she went on stage at the Chris Brown concert, people are still talking about it. I think that's a great example. So anything that's impacting the way that we as a society relate to each other and the way we connect. The first layer of this is something that went viral, why it went viral, what it says about us, the layers underneath that are, we're consuming so much content on a daily basis. Some that sticks with us. Most of it doesn't.

(02:39):

How is that impacting the way that we show up creatively? How is it impacting the way that we create if it's not for a large audience, how does it impact the way we connect with each other? And also when I talk about the cultural implications or the cultural impact, cancel culture is a big part of that too. Not just what goes viral in a good way, but what impacts us to the extent that we decide we as a society are done with this person. And why does that stick with some people and not stick with others? What does that also say about us as a society and even the way we haven't really changed much? I think it's so interesting how people talk in memes now. They talk in emojis. People use hieroglyphics ages ago. And so how have we changed? How have we not over the past however many centuries and have we just come full circle?

(03:28):

The creative in me says the show is for anybody who's interested in the way that we consume content, the way we relate to each other, and who has any sort of passing interest in human psychology. I think more tactically, this show is for marketers. It's for content creators. It's for people who want to understand not just how to create content, but how to create content that sticks and that resonates and that provides more than just surface level value to their audiences or to their communities. And it's for people who want to have a deeper understanding of what motivates them. Like why are we so addicted to our phones? Why are we so addicted to social media? What can we learn from that and how can we adjust accordingly? The name stop the scroll means a lot to me because yes, I'm a marketer, I'm a content creator, but more than anything, I'm a consumer.

(04:15):

I consume so much content day in and day out, and sometimes I find it a little concerning how much content we're kind of expected to consume and create every day. People just scroll for hours, literally hours. Screen time is out of control for so many people. We're scrolling. We're scrolling. But what are we actually taking in? What are we learning about ourselves? What are we learning about other people? What are we learning from the content that we're consuming? Why does most of it not stick with us? And so it's not just about literally stopping the scroll and being that brand that creates content that sticks. It's learning how to stop the scroll and actually understand what it is that you're consuming and just slow back down instead of being stuck in this rat race, this hamster wheel of just constant consumption. I think it's really important to prioritize intentional consumption of content and understand the impact on us as people.

(05:09):

A little bit about me. So if we go way back, I studied film and media in college, and I've always been extremely passionate about it. Just how society impacts media, how media impacts society, what resonates with us when, how much does timing have to do with how much something impacts us. I've always loved it. And I decided to pursue marketing instead. I worked in influencer marketing for about 12 or 13 years before I started creating content as well. And there's just a new level to it. I think I have more of a 360-degree view of the creator economy, and of content creation as a whole. And at the same time, one of my favorite things I learned about in film school was the psychology behind everything. How we speak to each other versus how we write dialogue in movies. What kind of movies resonate with us?

(06:00):

How to create this moment in time that sticks with somebody and makes them see the world differently or process something differently or shift their perspective. I've always been passionate about that. It's been the same thing with marketing too. It's not just about creating something and putting it out there. It's about creating something intentionally that resonates with people. And I love it. I love the psychology behind it. I love understanding myself more deeply. I love understanding other people more deeply and what drives them and motivates them. And I am just so excited about this.

(06:30):

When I think about the book I wrote, The Unapologetic Professional. I talk a lot in there about understanding what it is that motivates you, understanding what your goals are, what drives you, and then moving in that direction and not worrying so much about what other people think or how other people define success.

(06:45):

And I think the same thing applies to content, whether it's the consumption of it or the creation of it. Stopping the scroll is not just about taking a break or about finding that one piece of content that resonates. It's about having a deeper understanding of what drives you, what interests you, what appeals to you and what doesn't, even if it's outside the norm. And unapologetically embracing that. So I started creating content on LinkedIn in March, 2022, and I wasn't expecting anybody to follow except maybe my mom and my boyfriend. That was about it. But instead, it kind of took on a life of its own. I've built just a really engaged, really supportive community on there. What's interesting is that I'm not adhering to any of the rules that I think people adhere to on social. I am a writer through and through. I've always been a writer.

(07:35):

That's why I studied film, that's why I wanted to be a screenwriter. I focus on writing in 99.9% of my content, and that's my version of stopping the scroll. And it works, and that's fine, and people enjoy it. And I think the hardest part for me was when I tried to be somebody else, when I tried to produce or create content that didn't resonate with me, but that I thought people wanted to see. Or when I tried to just be somebody that I wasn't. What motivated me to start posting on LinkedIn was just this desire to see if I had something to say too. I'd spent so long creating content for brands and for CEOs and for everybody else. It's not so much that I felt like I didn't have a voice, but I was wondering if I still knew what that voice was and if I still knew what my own perspectives were.

(08:16):

And I originally thought I was talking about marketing all the time. It's what I do all day. I think I posted about it twice. I was extremely bored and said, I'm never doing this again. And I realized what actually interests me is dissecting my career. I first-generation American didn't really have the traditional support system when it comes to mentorship or sponsorship, so I had to figure a lot out and I made a lot of mistakes. I did a lot of things right and I wanted to dissect that and hopefully help somebody who was 3, 5, 10 years behind me to avoid the same pitfalls and navigate the same nuanced situations or scenarios. And that's why I started sharing online. I wanted to be really honest and transparent about those different situations. I didn't do everything. I know there are mistakes I made. I share those too.

(09:05):

I know there are things I did well or learned from. I share those too. I think one thing we can never get enough of on social media is honesty and transparency, even when it doesn't paint you in the best light. And that's something that I continue to strive for even three years down the line. What I've realized after creating content for a few years is that there's value in those viral moments, those lightning moments I like to call them, where something really resonates or goes viral. But there's also value in the stable or sustainable growth that you experience when you're building a community of like-minded individuals. When you're connecting with people over time. And when you're just building something that's not a one-hit wonder, but something that people can go back to and continue to engage with and connect with. I think that actually is the most impactful way to stop the scroll.

(09:52):

It's not when you pop off one time. It's when you have figured out what resonates with your audience, what resonates with you, and you create together. And it starts to take on a life of its own. I mean, the creator economy or the influencer marketing industry has blown up over the past couple of years. In my opinion. It's taken on a life of its own and it's only going to continue to grow. So many brands are interested in it. So many people want to be content creators now or be influencers. And I think that's exciting because as we live more and more online and in these digital spaces, it's going to be even more important that we find these ways to connect. But I also think it's important to take a step back as we experience this shift and remember what human connection looks like, even if it's virtually or even if it's online.

(10:41):

I think it's so important that we just don't lose that. We don't lose what makes us human, especially with the rise of AI and everything else. As excited as I am about everything happening with influencer marketing, I think another point of the show is to understand not just how to become an influencer, but what it actually means to influence something and how you can have a ripple effect or an impact on our society. I want people to feel intrigued after an episode. I want them to feel intrigued to understand themselves more. I want them to feel empowered to ask more questions about the world around them. And I want them to feel empowered because they have more knowledge to take to those conversations. They would have a deeper understanding of human psychology to an extent, to the technical side of content creation, to everything that goes into working in the creator economy.

(11:32):

And I also want people to feel inspired, to be creative. Again, whatever that looks like for them. This show is about asking questions, which is my favorite thing to do. My hope is that I leave some or most of these episodes with even more questions than answers and more things for myself to ponder and for the person listening to think through. Because I feel like when you come to a conversation wanting to leave with answers, you're going to do everything you can to get to this one solution that makes sense so you can resolve it when you open yourself up to just asking more questions. I think that's where the most learning happens. That's where we're challenged the most in a good way. And I think with something as intangible as the creator economy or content creation, anybody who claims to have all the answers is probably lying. And so I just think it's, when I think about this show, when I think about all the questions that I want to start digging into, I'm actually more excited about that than about any answers that I might get. Because I think the best conversations just lead to more conversations.