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Do you think social media has become more about distribution than creation?
Posted by on April 16, 2026 at 11:03 amLately it feels like making the content is the easy part, getting people to see it is the real work.
Posting, reposting, scheduling, short-form, long-form, different platforms, Sometimes it feels like 70% distribution and 30% creation.
Has it always been like this or has it changed in recent years?
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1 Reply
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100% agree, the “post and pray” era is long gone. now if you spend 5 hours on a high quality video but don’t have a solid cross-platform distribution strategy, you’re basically shouting into a void. I ve noticed that even the big creators are shifting their budget towards editors and distribution manager rather than just creatives bcause the algorithms are just too fragmented now.
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yeah it’s shifted a lot in that direction
creating content is easier now, so distribution and getting attention is where most of the effort goes
feels less like “make something good” and more like “make sure people actually see it”
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I guess it depends on what you’re content is. I feel like creating good content IS the way to get people to see it, but I also think what is good content has changed. People are using social media as a search engine now, so if your content isn’t searchable and providing value to the viewer, then you’re screwed.
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I’m with you on that. I think it’s been proven that the algorithm doesn’t punish reposting, and it’s a smart move to recycle content that performed well. That said, I feel like things are becoming too repetitive lately, content is starting to look more generic rather than unique or personal.
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Yes, content has basically replaced TV and people have started to look forward to “their show” as a scheduled thing with a specific concept
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It changed, but not quite how it feels, before 2018ish, algorithms did more of the distribution work for you. Chronological feeds, real hashtag reach, less competition. You made the thing, the feed mostly took care of who saw it.
Now the algorithm is selective and skeptical. Your content competes against everything posted each day. The distribution work moved upstream into the creation itself. the 70/30 feeling comes from where creators look for the work. Cross-posting and scheduling get the focus. The biggest gains sit in the first few seconds of the content, before anyone thinks about posting at all.
The hook in the first 1-2 seconds, the retention cues, the pre-qualifying captions, the platform-native format choices. All of it is distribution work happening during creation
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