Good morning.
Since 2004, social media platforms have had almost as many eras as Taylor Swift.
Nine major “arbitrage eras”—those golden windows of time when reach was high, competition was low, and opportunity was MASSIVE (if you acted fast enough).
An arbitrage, in this case, refers to a significant mismatch between supply and demand. This typically occurs when social platforms are new (e.g. Threads in 2023) or a major new feature is introduced on an existing platform.
When supply is low, because few people are using that feature yet, and demand is massive due to hundreds of millions of daily active users, the golden opportunity window presents itself.
You probably remember missing the boat on a few of these. I know I do. 😩
Platform | Era | Arbitrage |
|---|---|---|
2007–2012 2015–2020 | Free Page reach (pre-algorithm) and cheap Facebook Ads | |
2009–2013 2020–2023 | Unfiltered timeline, real-time reach, growth hacks, hashtags, pandemic-era threads explosion | |
2011–2016 | Organic photo growth, theme pages, influencer brand deals before saturation | |
Snapchat | 2013–2016 | Direct-to-audience access, Geo-filters, influencer takeovers |
TikTok | 2017–2022 | Viral growth with no followers, sound trends, and a creator fund boost |
Put on your green suit like Alexander Hamilton, and let’s not throw away your shot—again.
Let’s get into it.
— Gordon