Fyreside Newsletter - 9/22/25

Hey Reader,

I hope this email finds you well. I mean that. Shit sucks right now and, quite frankly, I'd venture to guess 96% of us are doing just north of fine, if that. But today is another opportunity for you to breath air, touch grass, and, god willing, punch a nazi. So if this email doesn't find you well, I hope you find an opportunity to do at least 2 of those 3 things.

Now, today's newsletter is a simple one...

I need your help.

Please reply to this email with your answer to this very simple question:

How many views does something need to be "viral?"

Why I'm asking.

Back in February, I wrote this piece on social media inflation. In short, that blog talks about the uncontrolled growth of average account followers. Well I'm working on a follow up about the uncontrolled growth of view counts and I need your perspective. This is one of those "try to get it published on someone else's website" kind of blogs, and I'd like to include your opinion.

Take 10 seconds out of your day and tell me how many views you think something needs to have before you consider it viral? I don't care that "you don't really know that much about social media" or that "you've never really thought about it before." I'm asking you anyway.

Why I'm writing this.

I'd like to refer back to my first paragraph about how shit sucks right now. For me, the most frustrating part about all of the shit that sucks right now is that the average person has little-to-no ability to impact all the shit that sucks. However, despite the inability to impact it, the average person is still inundated with sucky shit on all platforms at all times. When you're trapped underneath a boulder and you can't do anything about it, things get hopeless pretty quick. Imagine if Aron Ralston didn't have a pocket knife; James Franco probably would've faded into obscurity after Spiderman 3! (Yes, that was a 127 Hours joke for those of you playing along at home.)

Here's the thing though: the digital boulder pinning our scrolling experience to the wall isn't a real boulder. It's just the concept of a boulder that a bunch of ad execs invented to sell us stuff. I may have lost the metaphor there, but my point is, views aren't real. While I, an average person, may have little-to-no ability to impact all the shit that sucks, I'm going to use the little bit of ability that I have.

Power is perceived and in 2025, digital media is a thick, wool shroud that is often used by the powerful to cloud our perception. If I can deconstruct your understanding of the internet and how it works, then maybe you can cut off your own arm and go on living life.