Create stuff in a fun group that energizes the audience
The first lesson about content I intuited was while watching Giant Bomb, the video game personality-based website hosted by ~10 people, in my early 20s. I wanted to be part of that group, and I wanted to make stuff as part of a similar group, and I didn’t want to run after each of the Giant Bomb-ers individually if they ever split up, and I did not want to make stuff on my own.
I saw no point in it, actually. You either start out as part of an engaging group of people, or you don’t do. I still think so (as I write this on my personal blog). Almost certainly any content of yours is, in actuality, entertainment, not education or whatever else. You can expose others to new things, but you are not truly teaching. Yes, Tyler Cowen thinks that Conversations With Tyler is entertainment.
If you do something well enough, it creates respectability for itself. The right group makes that easier. And you want your audience to want to hang out with you! That feeling is easier to create as a group. You as an individual is likely going to be more interesting as part of a group. Think of how people view the X-Men (or groups more real).
And making stuff as a group 1. is easier 2. makes it more popular 3. most of the time adds rather than detracts quality 4. is more fun for you.
I really do think all the bloggers and people on X I follow (with audiences of different sizes) should get into “teams” of ~3-8 people. It’s clear who should team up with whom, and exciting to imagine their collaborations. Videos, podcasts, posts, etc. Most of their work can still be individual. By replying to each other across blogs (+ podcasts guest-ing, etc), some bloggers are already kind of team-y, but could be much closer.