It’s been damn near 13 years on these internet streets and I can’t believe how much the game has changed in that time. I’m becoming a bit of an old timer now. I feel like the game has passed me by if I’m being completely honest. I’m one of the old dudes on the scene now…hell, it’s not even the same scene anymore, really. I don’t know why this has been so heavy on my mind in recent months, but it has been. Maybe it’s self-reflection. Maybe it’s seeing all the gray hairs in the mirror and wondering if there’s still a place for me. How do I evolve? Or, have I had my Hulkamania run already?
When I launched SoBros Network in August of 2013, people were actually still reading blogs. Social media algorithms were different – if you had a thousand followers on Facebook, you could trust that probably six or seven hundred of them would actually see your posts, if not more. You didn’t have to pay to promote your content to get them seen. Those first few years of SoBros Network, something like 88% of our total site traffic came from social media platforms. We thrived. It felt like a real community – people were engaged, I’d get texts all day about stuff we’d written, people would share our articles. Those early years were quite formative – we felt like success was inevitable. We were the rogues out there making our own way, and as it grew, I felt encouraged that we were on the right path.
But, you just can’t do it that way anymore – writing an article and sharing a link goes nowhere. Shit, I’ve posted stuff on Twitter, and when I go to check back on it a day or two later, I find that the tweet has 60 views and maybe two link clicks. For reference, we ballooned from 50 Facebook followers to 1,200 in a year or two from 2015 to 2017. But, we’ve hovered around that same mark ever since. Nearly 10 years and virtually no movement! I know people aren’t using Facebook as much anymore, but it’s still kind of wild to look at that.
There was a surge in the mid to late 2010s. It’s like the world figured out “hey – anyone and everyone can do this digital media thing!” Social media became saturated with “content” and then the big platforms were forced to curate what actually showed up on your feed. Then, they figured out that some publishers with a bankroll would pay to promote their work and it opened up an entirely new revenue stream for them. Our numbers started to decline.
By 2018, Google was our primary source of traffic. We were verified there and even showed up in the Google News section. Things changed – just a few years prior, 12% of our site traffic came from the search engines. In 2018, that flipped to about 80% of our site traffic coming from search engines. I thought it was great – we were rolling with the punches! Losing out on social media? No problem – we’ll lean into the Google algorithm! But, there was a Google core update in the spring of 2019 that shattered that belief. I was pretty devastated by it. One month, we hit a record of 50,000 users on the site in a month. The next, that figure dropped to 12,000. I started to realize that we weren’t in control. SoBros Network had been built on platforms that we didn’t own and we were totally at the mercy of the almighty algorithm.
We shifted focus to podcasts, and it did fine for a while. But, then the podcasts evolved to including a video element. Now, it’s about pulling Tik Toks and Reels from your highly polished and produced podcast, interviewing high profile guests, and I’m sitting here still typing articles into WordPress. I learned over time how much of a grind it is to keep up with all the trends. I’ve never been shy about working. I’ve slept probably somewhere between 4-6 hours a night for the last 13 years. Frankly, I’ve just gotten a little slower as I’ve aged. I’ve gotten that sleep average up to about 7-8 hours a night. I just don’t feel like keeping up with it all. Thankfully, I’ve worked my way to a point where I don’t need to, but I do think about that rat race sometimes when I see new creators/writers/podcasters starting out.
My biggest old-man-shaking-his-fist-at-the-sky take is that this evolution in digital media is reflective of a declining collective attention span and changes in our society. I’m not trying to sound like “because you don’t read articles anymore, you are lazy!” For the first time in my life, I’m just looking around at the evolving world and, frankly, wondering if I even fit in here any longer. I catch myself putting my phone down more. Where I used to spend hours writing posts, researching trends, running analytics, content planning, auditing business operations and stuff like that, I’m trying new recipes. I’m watching old movies. I’m working on books. I’m sitting down to read a physical copy of Better Homes & Gardens. And, maybe that’s fine. Maybe that’s acceptance that I contributed my part to the digital media landscape but it wasn’t in the cards for me to be a pioneer for this new era. I’m exhausted, and I can’t keep up. But, that’s okay. It’s a different world today.
I often wonder how SoBros Network would look today had I started it earlier in the evolution of digital media. Had I been a little more in touch with myself and started it in, say, 2006 or something. Would it have become something like Barstool is today? I don’t know. It’s a futile endeavor. I used to believe you could make your own platform in that same vein, but I don’t know that that rings true in 2026 any longer. I don’t envy the young bucks out there trying to find their way in this game, but then again, I understand that they are far better equipped than I am to take it on. Still, I can’t help but feel like a bit of a dinosaur seeing how much things have changed.
I don’t mean to make this post sound like such doom and gloom. I have very fond memories of SoBros Network’s early days, and I’m grateful for everything that it has provided me – reps, experience, creative freedom, opportunities to do what I love for a living, and genuine friendships. All I’m saying is that now I think I can finally understand why my father was so resistant to the advent of sticker machines when all he wanted to do was hand-paint and letter signs.
But, I do find common threads between today’s state of digital media and 2013’s. That’s where I do think I can still offer some sage advice. Mainly, you still have to make good shit that resonates and connects with people. There’s a lot of slop out there – and maybe you’re making slop to someone too. The important thing is that your work is an extension of yourself. If you can find that rhythm, you’ll eventually find your people. There’s room for everyone to produce and find like-minded people through that. That’s how things grow, still to this day. Also, you still just have to work really fucking hard. You have to be a constant in the feed, producing at a regular cadence. You have to do that for a long time before you can start building relationships with the people that consume your work. That would be the main bit of advice I’d pass along to anyone looking to start out today – you can’t go wrong rolling up your sleeves and being yourself.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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