Most of us are taught to treat the internet like a megaphone — not a campfire, a place that’s slower, calmer, more personal.
That’s why the idea of (tiny) digital world-building feels strange. Contrarian, even. Counterintuitive to the way we’ve been trained to chase attention.
I needed a simple metaphor to communicate the thesis.
I needed a way to reframe the whole game — a metaphor simple enough to feel obvious, but deep enough to hold up.
So this is what I came up with.
I think it captures the idea quickly.
And it invites further enquiry for the curious.
“To be contrarian and right, you must first be contrarian and wrong—alone—for a long time.” ~ Rory Sutherland
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Most creators are shouting into the forest, hoping someone hears them.
That’s the traditional model — churn out content, feed the algorithms, maybe throw money at ads, all in the hope of capturing a bit of borrowed attention on rented land.
It’s noisy, exhausting, and transactional by design.
But there’s another way.
Instead of chasing people, you build a “campfire.” Something warm, inviting, and meaningful. A place people want to find.
Tiny Digital Worlds (TDWs) are campfires in the wilderness of the Internet.
You build your “World” around a novel idea, a point of view, a theme, a skill, a deeper purpose. You tend it with care — through story, craft, and consistency.
It doesn’t attract everyone, and that’s the point.
The right people — your people! — will feel the pull.
They’ll find you, stay, and bring others. That’s how Worlds grow: not through noise, but through resonance and inner yeses.
A well-tended campfire doesn’t demand constant shouting — it glows with a quiet confidence, sustained by meaning, depth, and a love for nuance.
This is the essence of Tiny Digital Worlds — an expression of open-world marketing that’s slower, calmer, more personal.
Marketing that emphasizes signal over noise.
(I’m not dismissing the need for external distribution channels to reach people. Only that the “campfire” comes first.)
~ André
