Hello and Welcome to a special Friday Edition of RP WEEKLY.

After 3 straight weeks of HS Football coverage in Oregon, Arizona, and Florida - it’s nice to be home.

One observation when you’re putting in long hours: not alot of time for social media.

You’re focused on the moment and the task at hand. It’s good that way. Especially when it’s something you enjoy.

That said, I have had some time on flights and before bed to ruminate on a trend I'm continuing to see more of everywhere.

Today’s topic: Communities & Stories

Communities

In the past month, two of my favorite platforms - Spotify (music) and Airbnb (travel) have announced messaging features on their respective platforms.

While I would prefer them (Spotify in particular) to focus on a myriad of other things, this development sends a strong support signal for “Human-Proof Experiences” - defined as those experiences that become more meaningful and important as technology becomes more optimized and sophisticated.

Let’s be clear, these platforms have defined two huge cultural pillars of our society over the past decade + but both company leaders, particularly Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, have planted their flag for the future.

On TBPN, Chesky said:

“Airbnb is mostly a marketplace right now. But - we want it to be a community…meaning the atomic unit of Airbnb goes from a home listing to a person. Our people are our most important asset.”

This corresponds with Airbnb’s foray into “Experiences” and “Services”. These features allow people to connect with each other. More often than not, they’re strangers - but with shared interests, passions, and motivations. The platform facilitates real-world interaction. Offline. In the present. Human-Proof Experiences.

With music, it’s great solo, but even better together. Burning a “mix” on a CD is an OG love language of the digital age. Sending your friends a banger for the first time is better than sex.

Now, it’s tracks and playlists - but for Spotify, it makes sense to keep those sacred shared music moments entirely on platform. There are so many opportunities to go from single to multi-player experiences when you’re talking about music and the many diverse artist/fan communities within.

We’re truly entering the moment where your community and the human-proof experiences created within them are the last remaining moat. Anyone can replicate the tech, nobody can replicate the people.

Storytelling

…is the foundation of our culture and society.

Before there was writing, we told stories.

Every religious text is packaged parables.

We view our own lives as a story.

Ok - I wont get any deeper, but you know what I mean.

Some among us have always consciously remembered this, others know it subconsciously.

But we know a good writer when we read one.

They know how to tell a story.

They have our attention.

I say all of this because writing and storytelling has become as sought after as coding in the tech industry.

Anthropic is hiring writers at 200k-300k salaries.

Notion rolled their entire comms/pr/social apparatus into a rebranded “Storytelling Team.”

These are but two examples of a massive trend sweeping the tech landscape.

Why?

Because the technological playing field has been completely leveled with AI. It’s easier than ever to create anything digitally. On the other hand, it’s never been more important to tell a compelling story about what you’re creating and why it matters.

It requires craft, character, conviction, vulnerability, confidence, quirkiness. It requires a human experience. One that, when shared effectively, deeply moves others.

Stories are about people. Stories are about us. And our individuality expressed to and within a larger community has never been a bigger asset in a world of slop and algo’s.

Putting a bow on it…

In case you missed it, here’s a story about the Dodger clubhouse community (and a certain special “unknown” attendant) that perfectly ties this all together.

Sports. Music. Travel. Tech. Art.

Whatever it is - it’s meaningless without the people behind it, and their story to tell.

This Week’s Music

Tame Impala. Gunna. Sinatra. And more…

RP WEEKLY!!!