Robin Sloan's Stock vs Flow

Robin Sloan was ahead of his time with this one. He used two economics terms – Flow & Stock, to describe the current state of media:

Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that reminds people 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.

He talks about how the balance between the two is crucial for knowledge workers today. If you focus too much on the flow, you won’t have anything substantial behind your back to support you. You’ll be running in circle – You’re putting in the work, sure, but when you stop and look around, you’d be exactly where you started.

He doesn’t mean you should ignore flow though. Flow has it’s place. It keeps your audience and you in touch. Reminds them of your existence.

Stock on the other hand is your asset. It is searchable. It is can be discovered. it sticks around.

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