Karen X Cheng: View and Like Counts Are Flawed Content Indicators
Karen X Cheng · AI and the Creator Economy with Karen X Cheng · Nov 9, 2022 · at 45:13
Digital creator Karen X Cheng reflects on algorithmic feedback loops and vanity metrics during a discussion on creator business models on the a16z Podcast.
0:00 / 0:48exact quote · 48.6s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“People put so much value on the number of likes and the number of views because it is the only number we can really see and judge ourselves by, and so it's like we've been trained since Like kindergarten to put value in like the number judgment, you know, when you get like a 97 on a test. Wow. That's so good. You get like a 60. That's a D that's bad. And so we are so trained to take that feedback of numbers as the truth. And then, so when it comes, social media comes along and you get lots of views versus a little, it's so easy to say, well, a video was great because it got tons of views and it's not because it got very little views. And it took me years to learn that that is It is such a bad metric, but it's the only, like, a quote-unquote objective one we have.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Karen X Cheng
Karen X Cheng: Low-Effort Viral Creators Fail to Secure Major Brand Deals
“The people who are putting out low effort content all the time, getting millions of views, they're not the ones getting hired by like, Major respected brands. You know, they're not actually getting great opportunities off of their follower count.”
Karen X Cheng Predicts AI Will Quickly Automate Prompt Engineering
“Well, I don't think the answer is focus on prompt engineering because I wouldn't be surprised if in a very short amount of time, AI gets extremely good at Prompt engineering. And so those people are less, you know, relevant.”
Cheng: Generative AI will significantly lower the barrier to becoming an artist
“Okay, so I think that what this is gonna do, what AI art is gonna do is it's going to Significantly lower the barrier to entry to become an artist.”
Karen X Cheng: Behind-the-Scenes Content Drives Viral Video Growth
“The unlock for me was actually sharing my behind the scenes and that was it. And so I would like, I, before I would just show these cool shots and I'd be like, look at this cool shot, you know, and then maybe I would describe how I did in the caption and like …”