2025 Embracing Authenticity: Real Information and Users, Genuine Creation and Connection
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2025 Embracing Authenticity: Real Information and Users, Genuine Creation and Connection
Only real impact and genuine feedback can enable us to enter a positive cycle.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Zolo, TechFlow
It seems everyone is full of anticipation for 2025—driven by market trends and hot topics. Project teams, retail investors, KOLs, VCs... everyone is gearing up for a big move.
I'm part of that group too. But I've started to feel cautious: when everyone wants to go all-in, how can I make sure I’m not the one getting taken advantage of?
Looking back at 2024, my hope for 2025 is that everything I engage with and create will be authentic and bring real, positive value to the industry.
Real Information: Information bubbles are everywhere. What we need isn't more information, but real information
Don’t trust a single channel blindly
The first time this really hit me was during the U.S. election. If you only looked at Polymarket, you’d have been convinced Trump was going to win all along, yet the fluctuations still caught you off guard.
If you only followed "certain American partisan media," you might’ve thought Harris still had a chance; switch your feed to Twitter, and suddenly it felt like everyone was saying Trump would win.
Information isn't necessarily wrong—but it's always narrow.
So when we assess a project’s popularity or reputation based solely on Twitter, we should also check on-chain data, community discussions, and talk to real people.
Diversify your sources and broaden the signals you receive.
Escape KOL bias
One of the most memorable moments for me this year was the debate around ai16z—I happened to follow it from the very beginning.
There were good takes and bad ones. Early on, the founder’s loose remarks caused many holders to panic, and even top-tier KOLs like Ansem and Him publicly spread FUD about ai16z.
On issues like the eliza/Eliza capitalization debate, different KOLs held wildly different views.
Differing opinions are normal. Criticizing a project is normal. But when all views lose logic and become purely emotional and rigid, they turn into bias.
During that period, if you only listened to those who stayed bullish on ai16z no matter what, you'd think the project’s problems were negligible—but you’d also have to endure the selling pressure.
Likewise, if you only followed KOLs who kept spreading FUD regardless of how much ai16z improved, your feed would stay permanently negative, causing you to miss out on 10x or even 100x gains.
KOLs aren't right or wrong—each is simply an information bubble. Their quality varies, but as individuals, they inevitably carry fixed mindsets and certain biases. When researching a project, don’t overlook friends around you who’ve done genuine, deep dives.
Beware of conspiracy groups—your insider tips are “loss-making info”
Many friends have shared on Twitter that over 80% of the “insider tips” they received ended up losing money.
I’ve experienced the same. It’s not that people share these tips with bad intentions—it’s because we’re all just parts of the game.
You don’t know if the information is true (whether the price will actually pump);
You don’t know how effective it is (how high it’ll go);
You don’t know where you stand in the information chain (whether your entry price is low enough);
...
The distortion rate of such information is simply too high,
making these so-called “insider tips” effectively “loss-making info” by the time they reach you.
Real Users: Reject fake data prosperity. Traffic matters, but don’t get addicted to traffic
Traffic in our industry is becoming more artificial—we need real influence
Whether it’s Twitter followers, website visits, or AMA attendance numbers, fake traffic is growing—and so is the ecosystem of services that sell it.
This hits close to home in my own work.
Media influence is often judged heavily by traffic metrics. Many outsiders unfamiliar with the space rely on third-party tools to evaluate whether a media outlet is worth partnering with—purely based on traffic.
This has made “buying traffic” to attract “business” a widespread practice across the board.
But “bought traffic” doesn’t translate into “real influence”;
And the “business” it attracts won’t deliver “real results.”
In this cycle:
Platforms buy traffic to appear influential;
Projects need impressive traffic numbers to prove their effectiveness;
Platforms compete with each other, driving up the cost of bought traffic;
Traffic inflates, surface-level metrics improve, the industry enters a state of false prosperity—while wealth quietly flows into the pockets of “traffic vendors.”
I call this phenomenon "TrafficSick." Once you’re hooked, it’s hard to break free.
How do you measure real influence?
Try talking to real people. Engage with different players in the industry. Ask them what they think about certain topics, whether they’ve seen specific content, what their impressions are, etc.
This is precisely why I attended so many events last year. Only through genuine offline interactions and conversations could I understand how people truly perceive us, what topics are trending, what the community mood is like, and what kind of content actually resonates with users.
Only real influence and honest feedback can put us on a positive trajectory.
Don’t fear low traffic—start by building a passionate niche community
I used to be deeply influenced by a principle in advertising:
At a fundamental level, people share common emotional triggers. So no matter what you do, as long as it’s something that genuinely moves you and that you truly believe in, somewhere out there, someone will resonate with it.
Like music—“niche genres” are always relative, and there’s always an audience for them.
From a market perspective, the challenge becomes clear:
1- Are you doing something that genuinely moves and convinces you?
2- Have you spread it widely enough?
In Web3, although our market keeps expanding, the upside is that attention isn’t highly fragmented. We know where users are, which social apps they use, and who our competitors are—it’s all countable.
Loyal members are drawn to your “extreme ideas, concepts, or attitudes.” Once you find them, they’ll come, gather, and form a community.
You don’t need massive numbers—sometimes a few dozen truly engaged people can have far greater impact than tens of thousands of passive followers. So we shouldn’t worry about low traffic, but rather whether what we’re doing is truly compelling.
Real Creation: When AI becomes everyone’s creative tool, what kind of content will stand out?
Beyond the hype around AI Agents and similar concepts, AI as a tool has significantly boosted our productivity. Yet a common critique now is: “This feels so AI-generated.”
Whether you’ve noticed or not, you’ll increasingly observe:
Content becoming more homogenized; frameworks and logical structures growing more similar; references and citations converging; more research-style content appearing (because it’s easier to mass-produce).
I know of certain content platforms that constantly use AI in the backend to generate articles, expand databases, optimize SEO, and monetize traffic.
But audiences will eventually grow tired of this.
So when AI becomes a universal creative tool, what kind of content will capture attention? I believe there are two keys:
1- We must prioritize Ideas.
Bring original thinking to your content. Break conventional frameworks and approach topics from fresh angles.
2- We must create something new.
People naturally applaud things they’ve “never seen before.” Creativity defies logic, thrives on random combinations, and manifests in the unprecedented.
We should emphasize creation over curation.
Real Connections: Time is precious—don’t waste it casually
A lasting, healthy relationship should be mutually beneficial—not one-sided extraction.
People who don’t value your work will keep asking you for “favors”;
Those who are stingy toward others or their community won’t fairly compensate your contributions either.
As everyone gears up for action in 2025, I don’t want to be the person who only takes, but never gives.
This year, my dog fell seriously ill. As I spent days caring for her, I realized I had previously only taken emotional comfort from her.
While fulfilling my own emotional needs in the hierarchy of Maslow’s pyramid, I hadn’t even met her most basic need—regular meals.
Many people’s time is extremely valuable this year. Don’t hesitate to ask for help when needed—but remember, never just take.
Mutually beneficial connections are the only real and effective ones.
There’s no turning back once the arrow is released—that should be our mindset this year.
Go all-in on what you believe in. Don’t scatter your focus. Don’t assume that if this doesn’t work out, there’s always another chance.
This is my reflection on 2024 and my hope for 2025.
Finally, thank you to all our partners who chose TechFlow in 2024. Let’s push forward together in 2025 and build something more interesting, more creative.
To everyone who read this far—wishing you meaningful progress in 2025 on the things you truly believe in. Happy New Year 🎉～
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