2025 Embrace Reality: Real Information and Users, Real Creation and Connection

Author: Zolo, Deep Tide TechFlow

It seems that everyone is looking forward to 2025, due to market reasons and hot topics. Project teams, retail investors, KOLs, VCs… everyone is ready to make a big move.

I am one of them. But I have started to be cautious; when everyone wants to make a big move, how can I ensure that I do not get "caught up" in the big move.

Looking back at 2024, I hope that what I engage with and create in 2025 will be real and have positive value for the industry.

Real Information: The Information Cocoon is Everywhere, What We Pursue is Not More Information, but Real Information

Do Not Blindly Trust a Single Channel

This year, the U.S. election made me deeply aware of this issue. If you only look at Polymarket, you would always think Trump is winning, and the fluctuations in between would catch you off guard.

If you only look at "certain American party media," you might think Harris still has a chance; and if you switch to Twitter, you will find that it is full of news about Trump winning.

There is no right or wrong in information, but all of it can be narrow-minded.

So, when we assess a project's popularity and reputation solely through Twitter, we should also look at on-chain data, community discussions, and engage in conversations with others.

Diversify your channels and make the signals you receive more varied.

Escape the Bias of KOLs

What impressed me the most this year was the discussion about ai16z, which I happened to follow from the beginning until now.

There are both good and bad aspects. For instance, in the beginning, the founder's candid remarks made many people worry about their holdings, and KOLs of the caliber of Ansem and Him publicly FUDed ai16z.

In the case of the eliza/Eliza capitalization debate, different KOLs held very different opinions.

Having different views is normal, and criticizing a project is also normal, but if all viewpoints deviate from logic and become emotional and rigid, they carry bias.

During this period, if you only listen to those who are consistently bullish on ai16z, you might think the project's issues are trivial, but you also need to bear the selling pressure during that time.

Similarly, if you only follow those KOLs who continue to FUD ai16z regardless of its improvements, the information you receive will always be negative, which will cause you to miss out on 10x or even 100x returns.

KOLs are not right or wrong; each KOL is just an information cocoon. Their quality varies, but because they are individuals, they inevitably carry their own fixed perceptions and certain biases. When researching a project, do not overlook those friends around you who have genuinely studied a project in depth.

Beware of Conspiracy Groups; Your "Insider Information" is Mostly "Losing Information"

Many friends have shared on Twitter that over 80% of the "insider information" they receive results in losses.

I am the same; I do not share "insider information" with malicious intent, but because we are all part of the play.

You do not know the authenticity of the information (will it pump);

You do not know the effectiveness of the information (where will it pump to);

You do not know what number you are among those who also know this information (is the buy-in point low enough);

…

The probability of this information being "distorted" is too high,

to the extent that this "insider information" becomes "losing information" by the time it reaches you.

Real Users: Reject False Data Prosperity; Traffic is Important, but Do Not Become Addicted to It

The Industry's Traffic is Becoming More False; We Need Real Influence

Whether it is Twitter followers, website traffic, or AMA attendance, fake traffic is increasing, supporting many surrounding "traffic-selling" services.

For my own work, this realization is even deeper.

The influence of media is significantly judged by traffic; many people who do not understand the industry usually assess whether a media outlet is worth collaborating with based on traffic through some third-party tools.

This has directly led to the phenomenon of "buying traffic" to attract "business," which has become common across all industries.

However, "bought traffic" cannot bring "real influence";

The "business" attracted does not necessarily yield "good results" for them.

In this cycle:

Platforms need to buy traffic to appear influential;

Project teams need attractive traffic to prove their efforts are effective;

Different platforms compete with each other, and the cost of buying traffic gradually increases;

As traffic grows, superficial effects improve, leading the industry into a false prosperity, where only wealth is genuinely transferred to "traffic service providers."

I would call this phenomenon "Traffic Addiction." Once infected, one will sink deeper.

How to judge real influence?

Try to communicate with real people, engage with different roles in the industry, ask them what they think about a certain issue, whether they have seen a certain content, and what their evaluations are, etc.

This is also the reason I attended many events last year; only by genuinely interacting and communicating with different friends offline could I understand how everyone views us, what is currently being discussed, the atmosphere in the community, and what kind of content truly interests users.

Real influence and real feedback are what can lead us into a positive cycle.

Do Not Fear Low Traffic; Consider Building an Emotional Niche Community First

In the past, while doing advertising, I was deeply influenced by a viewpoint:

Everyone has some commonalities at their core, so no matter what you do, as long as it is something that "truly moves you" and "you deeply resonate with," there will definitely be someone on the other side of the world who shares the same resonance with you.

Just like listening to music, "niche music" is always a relative concept and will always have a market.

So from a market perspective, the problems to be solved are actually very clear:

1- Are you doing something that truly moves and resonates with you?

2- Have you spread this matter widely enough?

For Web3, although our market is growing larger, the good thing is that our traffic is not very dispersed. We can count where users are located, which social software they use, and who your competitors are.

Loyal members are definitely attracted by some of your "extreme concepts, ideas, attitudes," etc. As long as you find them, they will come to you and start to gather, thus forming a community.

You do not need many people because those few dozen individuals may yield much better results than tens of thousands. Therefore, we should not worry about low traffic, but rather whether what we are doing can truly attract people.

Real Creation: When AI Becomes a Universal Creation Tool for Everyone, What Kind of Content Will Attract People?

This year, besides the hype around concepts like AI Agents, AI as a tool has greatly enhanced our productivity. However, a common point of criticism now is: this thing has a strong AI flavor.

Whether you realize it or not, you will gradually notice that:

The content you see will become increasingly homogenized; content frameworks and reasoning logic will become more similar; the content cited for arguments will gradually converge; research-type content will increase (because it is easier to produce).

I know that some content platforms are actually using AI in the background to produce content, expand their databases, optimize for SEO, and earn traffic revenue.

But users will definitely experience aesthetic fatigue.

So when AI is widely regarded as a creative tool, what kind of content will attract people? I believe it comes down to two aspects:

1- We should value Ideas.

Have your own thoughts on the produced content, break the existing frameworks, and approach from different angles.

2- We should create new things.

People will always applaud things they have "never seen before." Creativity does not adhere to logic; it is a random combination and also something "unseen."

We should place more emphasis on creating content rather than organizing content.

Real Connections: Time is Precious; Do Not Waste It Casually

A long-term and healthy relationship should be mutually beneficial, not one-sided exploitation.

Those who do not recognize the value of your labor will constantly ask you to "do them a favor";

Those who are stingy with others/communities will not be willing to share matching benefits for your contributions.

As everyone seems to be gearing up for a big move in 2025, I do not want to be the one who "only takes" and is unwilling to give.

This year, my dog fell seriously ill, and when I spent a lot of time taking care of her, I realized that I had previously only been seeking emotional value from her.

While satisfying my own Maslow's emotional needs, I could not even meet her most basic dietary needs of eating on time.

This year, many people's time is extremely valuable. Do not hesitate to seek help, but always remember not to just take.

Mutually beneficial connections are the only real and effective connections.

Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back; I believe this should be the attitude towards work this year.

Invest heavily in recognized matters, do not overly disperse your energy, and do not think that if you do not do well, there will be another opportunity.

This is my summary of 2024 and my expectations for myself in 2025.

Finally, I would like to thank the partners who chose Deep Tide in 2024. I hope that in 2025, we can work hard together and create more interesting and creative things.

To those who have read this far, I wish you all the best in 2025 in the matters you recognize. Happy New Year!