The Art of Digital Deceleration: A Love Letter to Long-Form

I know it's practically February and here I am, fashionably late with the New Year wishes. But look, I've got a decent excuse: I've been travelling around India, giving my brain cells a much-needed holiday from what had become a proper content binge towards the end of 2024. 

Now, I know what you're thinking – here comes another newsletter banging on about predictions and trends, probably with a side of "AI will make your kettle sentient" thrown in for good measure. But hang on to your huel, because that's not what we're doing today.

A CASE STUDY

Let me introduce you to Xander Budnick,he’s a recovering addict that has turned his life around through exploration. Xander is the perfect balance of crazy and inspirational that makes his videos so endearing and awe-inspiring. Aside from the incredible vistas, nail-biting hunting sessions and occasional dry-heaving in the jungle, the most engaging thing about his videos are the pacing. They aren’t these over-optimised-engagement-bait-dopamine-farming-12-minute-fixes, but instead often breathe on for upwards of an hour, with the story unfolding in an authentic and well-paced way.

It’s creators like Xander that, once you peel yourself away from the doom-scrolling cycle of short form, you realise how rewarding, fulfilling and inspiring content can actually be. Yeah you might learn some survival skills along the way, but the biggest takeaway from videos like Xander’s is that digital content can promote mindfulness, self-reflection and wellness, just in the way that meditation and yoga can.

THE FUTURE IS BLEAK

As I watch my daughter grow up, I can't shake these Wall-E-esque visions of our future. The thought that my own content might be contributing to the attention-span apocalypse keeps me up at night. But here's the thing– it doesn't have to be this way.

Embracing longer, thoughtfully-paced content isn't commercial suicide. If anything, it's your secret weapon. While everyone else is chasing algorithms, you're building something more valuable: a tribe that sticks with you through thick and thin. (And yes, they'll buy your merch and show up to your events because they're genuinely invested in your journey.)

THE AI PROBLEM

So like any thought piece in the past 12 months, i’ve gotta talk about it. AI. My feed is drowning in soulless AI voiceovers narrating random clips, or worse, AI-generated "footage" masquerading as reality. If you're in the short-form game, consider this your wake-up call. While AI is coming for the quick hits, there's one thing it can't replicate (at least not yet): authentic storytelling. YOUR story.

CHANGE STARTS WITH YOU

So here's my challenge to us all: Hook the audience in with that killer thumbnail and snappy intro, sure. But once you've got their attention? Take them on a journey. Show them who you really are. Because that's your superpower – the one thing AI can never steal.

As always, if you enjoyed this - please do share it about!

Thanks

Alex