Storytelling, Community, and Other Words That Should Be Put on Mute

Okay, let’s talk. How many times have you scrolled past a brand post yelling about “community” and “storytelling” and thought… wow, this feels about as genuine as a plastic plant?

These words once had weight. They actually meant something. But we’ve sucked them dry. Everyone’s “building community.” Everyone’s “telling stories.” And in the end? Nobody’s really saying anything.

Why? Because somewhere along the line, we stopped caring about real people and started bowing down to the almighty algorithm. Content became a performance. Authenticity turned into strategy. We’ve trapped ourselves in an endless cycle of sameness, recycling buzzwords like cheap wallpaper.

Here’s the ugly truth: when everything sounds the same, people stop listening. Overusing language, aesthetics, or strategies doesn’t just bore your audience—it erodes trust. It makes you look like you’re trying to trick the system instead of actually connecting with humans. And humans can smell that from a mile away.

So how do you break free? You strip it back. You kill the jargon. You risk sounding too simple because that’s where honesty lives. And yeah, sometimes you bring in a brand specialist (ugh, the word still makes us itch, but hear me out). Not the corporate kind that buries you in PDFs, but the kind that helps you translate your messy, real, beating-heart self into something people actually feel.

Because community isn’t built in a social media scheduler. Storytelling isn’t a checklist. And “brand”? Forget the eeeck for a sec—it’s just your reputation. Your vibe. The reason people stick around (or don’t).

So let’s call time of death on the buzzword era. Less algorithm worship, more actual connection. Deal?