signals
why is everyone starting a newsletter?
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everyone has a different metric for defining pivotal moments in culture. a simple example: qualifying a band’s level of mainstream success based on whether or not your parents know who they are—typically a tipping point categorized by said band’s SNL appearance.
lately, everyone has been talking about newsletters. yet, how do we know if they are merely existing, growing in popularity, or signaling a bigger cultural shift? when it comes to bands who finally "make it," there were likely signals toward this moment for years leading up—like industry chatter about the artist performing at showcases, or being featured in prominent yet still underground music blogs.
newsletter discovery usually happens through friends, brands, or links in bios. post-discovery, the discoverer may choose to passively consume other people’s newsletters. or, they may feel inspired to author and publish one of their own. still yet, they may wonder why their friends, brands, and influencers are all linking to Substack right now—a signal they've noticed, but pointing toward what?
where pivotal moments are defining experiences that help you contextualize big changes in your life, or that of your project or company, signals are events you can observe outside of the context of yourself that point toward a bigger meaning or message for the collective. when we can quantify those signals with data, and can prove that they’re directionally changing, they can then be called a trend. the way we see it: not all pivotal moments are visible to others, while signals are.
📞 values-based job opportunities
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in business terms, understanding signals could help you stay current and relatable. they can provide foresight about where your industry and market are headed, or where they already are—and whether or not you’re there with them. signals can help you decide how to co-create a more abundant future for your team that considers widespread cultural and generational change. they can also help you anticipate emerging trends. take for example the business trend "quiet quitting." we all may have seen signals leading up to this phrase being coined, especially after covid when many of us started to rethink our roles in professional settings. people started quitting their jobs to make sourdough, posting about their oyster trays on the amalfi coast, and announcing they're going freelance. but for the rest who couldn’t leave their jobs, they started going yellow on slack, suspiciously finishing entire novels in a matter of weeks despite having a 9–5, and posting anti-work memes on linkedin. These were the namesakes of the coinage. And the coinage itself…solidified the path of signals → trends → part of the zeitgeist.
personally, signals can help you understand whether you're open to collective evolution and help you decide how to participate. understanding why you might be resistant to a signal can tell you something about your own growth, such as whether or not something is aligned to your values—or whether or not your values are changing. if your favorite celebrities, some of your friends, and your favorite restaurants are going vegan but you’re feeling some resistance, it could be a chance to dive deeper into why this signal rubs you the wrong way. signals could also generate the opening of new portals to roles or hobbies that didn’t exist before, but perfectly fit your skillset or interests, giving you a new sense of purpose and fulfillment.
when it comes to newsletters, this reinvented form of self-expression has become a portal for new fulfilling hobbies that platforms like tumblr and instagram weren’t offering. people are even getting hired to write and edit Substack newsletters. everyone from baristas to founders have Substacks at this point—and so does Hinge??
it can be hard to decide whether or not a signal’s learnings are worth acting on. this is especially true if there isn’t a lot of data to back up what you think the signal’s meaning is. companies often react quickly when they see a signal out of fear of getting left behind, even if the signal’s learnings don’t pertain to them. energetically, a signal may teach you something that is meant to be shared with the collective, or for your personal evolution. it’s up to you to decipher what to do with it.
once you know about signals it’s easy to start thinking everything around you is one. as with any type of self-reflection, having boundaries is key. sure, there may be signals swirling around your ether at any time, and you could use our Notion template to quickly jot them down. however, unless they pertain to your work, something aligned with your values, a pivotal moment in your life, or a star moment, and are something you can use to support your growth, you can feel free to sit back and enjoy a signal turn into a trend, at which point you can become a certified hipster and tell all your friends how you saw this coming before they did.