A friend asked me: “Why is everyone talking about traffic monetization these days?”

My response was: because the world doesn’t lack products, it lacks attention. Whoever can capture attention has the opportunity to convert that attention into revenue.

But then I added a second sentence: “If you only think about monetization, you usually can’t monetize.”

He didn’t quite understand. I explained further.

Traffic is the Quantification of Trust

Most people’s understanding of “traffic” is too narrow. They equate traffic with “number of eyeballs”—the more people who see you, the greater the traffic, the more you can monetize.

But this understanding misses the essence of traffic. Traffic isn’t just the number of eyeballs. It’s the quantification of trust relationships.

Think about it: why do you continue following a particular account? Not just because their content is interesting, but because you trust them to some degree—trust their taste, their judgment, their honesty, or their expertise.

This trust has specific boundaries. You trust a doctor’s medical knowledge, but that doesn’t mean you trust the health supplements they recommend. You trust a critic’s movie reviews, but that doesn’t mean you trust the investment schemes they’re selling.

Trust has boundaries. Monetization that crosses these boundaries is exploiting trust.

Not All Traffic Should Be Monetized

This is the most overlooked point.

Ministry of Health and Welfare’s epidemic prevention livestreams have enormous traffic—but their purpose is public communication, not monetization. Greenpeace’s environmental videos have high view counts—but their purpose is conveying values, not selling products. Teachers’ free educational content viewed by hundreds of thousands—but their purpose is education, not profit.

None of this traffic has been “monetized,” yet it’s crucial for maintaining social function.

In “When Nudity Becomes Language: Digital Age Body Grammar and Algorithm Symbiosis,” I discussed how algorithms push all content toward “maximizing interaction.” But interaction doesn’t equal value, and reach doesn’t equal influence. Some traffic’s value lies precisely in not being commercialized—it remains pure, so people trust it.

The Disaster of Role Misalignment

The core concept here is Persona—the personality mask.

Who you are determines what kind of traffic you have. Your Persona determines why people follow you, trust you, and are willing to spend time viewing your content.

If you’re a knowledge-based opinion leader, your influence comes from your professional depth and non-commercial stance. People trust you because you don’t appear to be selling anything—you’re sharing knowledge.

Now, what if you suddenly start promoting some product? What will your followers think?

“How much did he get paid?” “Were the things he recommended before also sponsored content?” “Turns out he’s just like everyone else.”

Once these thoughts arise, the trust you’ve built over years can collapse in days.

This isn’t hypothetical—it happens on social media every day. A KOL from the non-profit sector starts accepting sponsored content, a commentator who used to discuss public policy starts selling courses—role confusion immediately triggers a trust crisis.

Wanting everything often results in becoming a bat-like creature: telling mammals you’re a mammal, telling birds you’re a bird. In the end, neither side recognizes you.

The Correct Way to Use Influence

So what should you do? Never monetize at all?

No. Rather, your monetization method must align with your Persona.

If you’re a professional knowledge-based creator, your monetization can be publishing books, teaching courses, consulting services—these are all extensions of your professional capabilities, consistent with your role, and followers won’t find them jarring.

But if you start selling unrelated products—diet pills, financial tools, some brand’s skincare products—that’s role misalignment. It’s not that you can’t sell them, but you must clearly understand: every instance of role-misaligned monetization consumes your most precious asset—trust.

In “Technology Begins with Humanity: Business Insights from Facebook’s Algorithm Reconstruction,” I discussed how Facebook shifted its algorithm from “maximizing engagement” to “meaningful interactions.” Brands and individuals need to make the same shift—from “maximizing traffic” to “maximizing trust.”

Trust is a hundred times harder to accumulate than traffic, and a hundred times more valuable.

Refusing the Clamor of Conformity

“Traffic monetization” being constantly mentioned is a manifestation of human herd instinct. Seeing others talk about it, we follow suit, as if not discussing traffic monetization makes us outdated.

But profound influence requires settling. It comes from solitary thinking, not from noisy bandwagoning.

What is your influence? Who does it serve? In what form should it be delivered?

Getting these questions clear is far more important than rushing to “monetize.” Because those who monetize without clarity don’t end up with money—they end up with a bunch of unfollow notifications.

Don’t let your influence become cheap numbers reeking only of money.