Forward the Original Title: 2025 Embracing Authenticity: Real Information, Real Users, Real Creation, and Real Connections

It seems that everyone is excited for 2025, driven by market trends and hot topics. Project teams, retail investors, KOLs, VCs—everyone is preparing for big moves.

I’m part of this too, but I’ve started to be cautious. When everyone is pushing hard, how can I avoid just getting swept up in the momentum？

Looking back at 2024, I hope that in 2025, everything I get involved with and create will be genuine and add real value to the industry.

Real Information: Information cocoons are everywhere. What we seek is not more information, but real information.

Don’t rely on a single source.

This year, the U.S. elections really made me realize this. If you only follow Polymarket, you’ll always think Trump is winning, but the mid-campaign fluctuations might catch you off guard.

If you only rely on certain partisan media, you might think Harris still has a shot. But once you turn to Twitter, you’ll see that the platform is full of posts predicting a Trump win.

Information isn’t inherently right or wrong, but each source has its limitations.

So, when evaluating a project’s buzz or reputation based solely on Twitter, it’s important to also check on-chain data, community discussions, and engage with others.

Broaden your sources to get a more diverse range of signals.

Avoid KOL Bias

This year, the discussion around AI16z really stuck with me, and I happened to follow it from the start.

There were both positive and negative aspects. For example, early on, the founder’s blunt remarks made many people worried about their investments, and prominent KOLs like Ansem and Him openly spread FUD about AI16z.

Regarding the eliza/Eliza capitalization debate, different KOLs hold very different opinions.

During the debate over the capitalization of “Eliza” vs “eliza,” different KOLs had widely differing opinions. It’s normal to have differing opinions or to criticize a project, but when those views lose their logical grounding and become emotional or rigid, they become biased.

During this period, if you only followed those who were bullish on AI16z, you might think the project’s issues were unimportant, but you’d also have to handle the pressure of the sell-off.

Similarly, if you only followed the KOLs who kept FUD’ing AI16z, no matter how much the project improved, you’d only get negative information, missing out on opportunities for massive returns.

KOLs are neither right nor wrong; they are simply information cocoons.

Their quality varies, but because they’re individuals, they often carry fixed opinions or even biases. So, when researching a project, don’t overlook those around you who have genuinely done deep research into the project.

Watch out for conspiracy theories, and the “gossip” you hear is usually just “money-losing news.”

Many of my friends have shared on Twitter that over 80% of the “gossip” they hear ends up losing them money.

I’m no different. I’m not sharing this “gossip” with bad intentions—it’s just that we’re all part of the same game.

You don’t know whether the information is real (will it actually pump);

You don’t know its effectiveness (where will it go);

You don’t know how many others have already heard it (is the buying point low enough);

…..

The chances of this information being distorted are so high that by the time it reaches you, it’s likely to turn into “money-losing news.”

Real Users: Reject Fake Traffic Growth—Traffic Matters, But Don’t Get Addicted

The traffic in our industry is becoming increasingly fake, and what we really need is true influence

Whether it’s Twitter followers, website visits, or AMA participation, fake traffic is growing and fueling a whole industry of “traffic-selling” services.

I see this more clearly in my own work.

Many people unfamiliar with the industry use third-party tools to assess whether a media outlet is worth working with based on its traffic.

This has led to the widespread practice of “buying traffic” to generate “business,” a trend seen across all industries.

But “purchased traffic” doesn’t bring real influence.

The “business” generated from this traffic often doesn’t lead to meaningful results.

In this cycle:

Platforms buy traffic to boost their apparent influence;

Project teams need that attractive traffic to prove their work is making an impact;

Platforms compete with each other, driving up the cost of buying traffic;

The traffic grows, surface-level results improve, and the industry enters a false boom, with only the wealth actually shifting to “traffic service providers.”

I call this phenomenon “TrafficSick.” Once you’re caught in it, it’s hard to escape.

How can we assess true influence?

Engage with real people, connect with various figures in the industry, and ask them their thoughts on key issues, whether they’ve seen specific content, and what their opinions are.

This is also why I participated in so many events last year. Only by truly meeting and exchanging ideas with different people offline did I understand how others perceive us, what’s currently being discussed, the overall community atmosphere, and what content users are genuinely interested in.

Authentic influence and real feedback are what will guide us into a positive cycle.

Don’t worry about low traffic—try building a small, emotional niche community first.

During my time in advertising, I was strongly influenced by one idea:

Everyone shares certain basic traits, so no matter what you’re doing, if it’s something that truly moves you and that you deeply believe in, there will always be someone, somewhere in the world, who feels the same way.

It’s like listening to music—“niche music” may seem like a relative concept, but it will always have an audience.

So, from a market perspective, the key questions are simple:

1) Are you doing something that truly excites and resonates with you?

2) Have you spread it far enough?

For Web3, even though our market is growing, the good news is that our traffic is still concentrated. We can easily track where users are located, which social platforms they use, and who our competitors are.

Loyal Member must be attracted by one of your “extreme concepts, ideas, attitudes”, etc. Once you find them, they’ll come to you and start forming a community.

You don’t need a huge number of people. A few dozen engaged users can have a much bigger impact than tens of thousands. So, instead of worrying about low traffic, we should focus on whether what we’re doing can truly attract people.

Real Creation: When AI becomes a common creative tool for everyone, what kind of content will truly capture people’s attention?

This year, aside from the hype around AI agents and similar concepts, AI as a tool has significantly boosted our productivity. But one common critique is that the content feels overly “AI-generated.”

Whether you realize it or not, you’ll start noticing:

the content you see becoming more homogeneous; frameworks and logical reasoning becoming more alike; the sources of references becoming increasingly similar; and research content growing in number (because it’s now easier to produce).

I know that some content platforms have been using AI in the background to generate content, expand their databases, perform SEO, and profit from the traffic.

But eventually, users will experience fatigue with this.

So, when AI is widely used as a creative tool, what kind of content will stand out? I think there are two key elements:

1. Focus on ideas. Have your own perspective on the content you create, break out of traditional frameworks, and approach things from new angles.

2. Create something new. People are always drawn to things they’ve never seen before. Creativity doesn’t need to follow logic; it’s a free combination of ideas, something “never seen before.”

We should focus more on creating new content rather than simply organizing existing material.

Real Connections: Time is valuable, don’t waste it.

Healthy, long-term relationships should be mutually beneficial, not one-sided exploitation.

People who don’t appreciate the value of your work will continuously ask for “favors”;

Those who are stingy with others or with their communities won’t be willing to share the rewards for your contributions.

As 2025 approaches and everyone seems ready to make big moves, I don’t want to be the one who “only takes” but doesn’t give back.

This year, my dog got very sick, and when I spent a lot of time taking care of her, I realized I had always been taking emotional value from her without considering her basic needs, like feeding her on time, while satisfying my own emotional needs.

Many people’s time is valuable this year. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, but remember, don’t take without giving back.

Real connections are built on mutual benefit.

Once you commit to something, there’s no turning back—this should be our attitude towards what we do this year.

Commit fully to the things you believe in, don’t spread yourself too thin, and don’t assume there will always be another chance.

This is my reflection on 2024 and my hopes for 2025.

Finally, I want to thank all the partners who chose to work with Techflow in 2024.Let’s work hard together in 2025 to create more meaningful and creative things.

To those who read this far, I wish you a rewarding 2025 in the things you believe in.

Happy New Year! 🎉

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