wtf is a 'human truth' and why should you care?

hiii friend,

can you quickly answer this little poll for me so i can make sure this newsletter is as valuable as possible for you? ty!

so in last week’s newsletter, you read all about how alistair and i have been testing static posts on our channels. and after trialling a lot of different formats, i basically came to the conclusion that was something i already knew, which was:

the format and even the amount of effort i put into a post is not what matters. whether it gets good engagement comes down to whether a real human truth comes through.

—> if you missed it, you can catch up on last week’s newsletter here

which when you read that, might have you asking, ‘ok but like what the fuck is a human truth?’

so let’s talk about it, because it’s honestly the most important thing you can understand if you’re trying to grow an account on socials.

(((((i’m going to preface the rest of this newsletter with i know everything i’m about to say might sound very airy fairy, because finding the human truth is more of an art than a science. but i’m still going to try and explain how i think about it because i really want you to get it.)))))

when you think about content you like, or even my content with alistair, i’m guessing you like it because it feels relatable. like that’s what people say in our comments. and i know when you watch our dynamic, it’s easy to be like ‘oh they make couple’s content. that’s why it’s relatable.’

that’s not wrong, but it’s only the surface-level answer to why you feel like it’s relatable. the real thing that makes you feel connected to a post is that it made you feel a very specific human emotion, like a visceral feeling.

and you have just seen a situation depicted where 9/10 people will have that same feeling about that particular scenario. it’s just undeniable. that’s the human truth coming through.

to make this super practical, let me give you an example. one concept that comes up in my content is grief over losing my mum. so what’s the human truth that’s hidden in this context? is it losing your mum? i don’t think so because it’s not super relatable to the masses (i hope).

is the human truth grief? yeah grief happens to everyone but that alone doesn’t evoke a universal feeling. everyone can experience grief, yes. but, does everyone have the same version of grief? no… grief itself is too broad to be a human truth. it feels more just widely relatable rather than a distinct undeniable feeling i know a majority of people can feel in their soul.

the human truth under grief and losing my mum that i think is more definitive as an undeniable feeling is - the pain of thinking of all the things someone (who is special or was once special) has missed in your life or you wish that person could see.

maybe it’s a friend you’ve lost touch with or even an ex who you wish could see how much better off you are. it’s that feeling of thinking of someone else and how they perceive you but they are gone.

i think that is the human truth that underlies my content that makes “losing my mum at a young age” feel relatable even though it is not a common thing for most.

in my content with alistair, our human truth is…….