with Steve Pratt, Author of the hit book Earn It

Person peacefully listening to a podcast amidst a chaotic flood of digital content on multiple screens.

Contact vs. Content: What Are We Really Connecting With?

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Discover how content should move beyond filler and focus on creating true connections.

Growing up in a pre-internet world, I watched an ungodly amount of TV—like most kids of my generation. I can still sing most beer commercials from the ’80s word-for-word, and hum the theme songs to countless shows. I was also a bit of a nerd (okay, a lot of a nerd), so for quite a while, my favorite show was 3-2-1 Contact, an American science education program produced by the Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) that aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988. I loved it because I always learned something new. The energetically-charged theme song went like this:

Go ahead—sing along if you know it:

“CONTACT — is the SECRET — is the MOMENT – when EVERYTHING HAPPENS…”

Those words, coupled with images of kids doing backflips, whispering in each other’s ears, always made me lean forward, eager to see what came next. I knew it would teach me something I needed to know. The song made me think about the power of “contact”—that spark of understanding, the flash point where two minds meet, where something new is learned or shared. As a budding writer, I already felt a need to reach out with my ideas, to make a difference, to forge those connections. And as a typical 80’s latchkey kid, eating my snack on the couch after school and waiting for my parents to get home, that idea of contact—of connection—was probably the thing I craved most of all.

Fast forward to today: my nieces mostly consume digital content on YouTube, with endless choices at their fingertips. It’s the age of fractured messaging, where content is everywhere but connection is rare. If there were a unifying show for this generation, it would likely be called 3-2-1 Content, with a theme song that might go something like:

“CONTENT – is a THING – that fills SPACE – and kills TIME.”

Not quite as catchy, right? I get it—times change. My nieces will defend YouTube content creators to the death. And while many of them are brilliant, just as many are simply filling space. And don’t even get me started on Linked In content. If I read another ill-considered, click-baity post, I think I’m going to have to chuck my laptop!

And yes, I’m aware that I sound grumpy (shakes fist impotently at screen). But honestly, it makes me a bit sad how we now lionize “content” as the end goal, rather than seeing it for what it is: filler, fluff, or noise—like the unpronounceable ingredients in a bag of cheap dog food, the stuffing in a mattress, or the sugary white goo between Oreo cookie wafers.

When boiled down, “content” is really commodity, something to be packaged, repeated, and sold. Like in the movie The Founder, when businessman Ray Kroc turns the McDonald Brothers’ homemade hamburgers into content by making them all exactly the same, and franchising the heck out of them. Now, it’s one thing to try this with burgers. It’s another to try and turn ideas, or art, or important conversations into “content.”

Content is not the end-goal of media. Neither is efficiency the end-goal of writing. The goal of both these things is actually connection. The reason brands create media is to connect with an audience of potential customers. The reason I write is to feel something as I put my emotions and ideas onto a page, with the hope that someone else might feel something by reading them.  Writing should be about moving people emotionally, or intellectually, or both – with your carefully crafted and honestly felt words. But when I look around online, I see many writers today simply caving to the pressure to create a higher volume of content, to fill space as quickly as possible, using the prescribed language that appeases the Gods of SEO. And the AI revolution? It’s only speeding up the production of more lackluster content—stuff that fails to grab or hold attention, that ultimately misses the mark of human connection.

Which brings me to why I love podcasts (see, I got there eventually, SEO Gods). Podcasts reach beyond attention-grabbing headlines and space-filling content. They create an almost sacred space of attention. And podcasts only workif they honour this space. If they fail to do so – if they slip over into lazy filler, into advertorial selling, or AI drivel… they very quickly fail. People will simply rip an inauthentic podcast out of their ears, because it represents a violation of their trust. But a real podcast, one that offers its audience something of value, be that entertainment, learning, or simply commiseration – can grab and hold audience attention, and create a true sense of connection and loyalty.

And here’s the real truth: Opportunities for real connection are few and far between for people like me. I work full-time. I don’t go to church to contemplate the Infinite. I’m much too hyperactive to meditate. My husband is obsessed with his routine. My kids are grown, so those deep conversations we once had about the universe have evaporated. Podcasts have become my confessional, my yoga practice. They’re my “me-time”—but a time spent leaning in, listening deeply, learning from people I respect. People who aren’t perfect, but who are willing to lift the hood on their emotional and intellectual processes, inviting others to observe. It’s 3-2-1 Contact all over again. It’s personal, and it’s powerful.

5 Takeaways from the Blog Post:

1. Content is often reduced to “filler” today.

Many creators, especially in digital spaces like LinkedIn and YouTube, prioritize quantity over quality, turning content into mere space-fillers.

2. True connection should be the goal of content.

The best content isn’t just about efficiency or production but about creating genuine emotional and intellectual connections with the audience.

3. Podcasts stand out for fostering deeper engagement.

Podcasts offer a unique space for more meaningful connections, breaking away from the superficial noise of typical content.

4. Inauthentic content is quickly dismissed.

Audiences are savvy and will disengage from content—whether written or podcast—that feels inauthentic, overly promotional, or lacking value.

5. Podcasts can serve as personal, reflective spaces.

For many, podcasts provide a rare opportunity to learn, reflect, and connect with others in a way that written or visual content often fails to.

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