Stock & Flow

by Andrew

Robin Sloan uses the economic concept of stock and flow as a metaphor for today’s media.

Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that remind peo­ple that you exist. Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the con­tent you pro­duce that’s as inter­est­ing in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what peo­ple dis­cover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, build­ing fans over time.

The clarity of such a mental model is incredibly valuable when determining the level of trust from your sources.