# Yes, the WordPress echo chamber.  ## Episode metadata - Episode title: Yes, the WordPress echo chamber. - Show: Matt Report - Owner / Host: Matt Report & Matt Medeiros - Episode publish date: 2025-07-29 - Episode AI description: Delve into the intriguing world of the WordPress echo chamber as the discussion unfolds around content creation dynamics. The host shares personal experiences on the challenges of gaining visibility and the impact of gatekeeping in the community. Highlights include the importance of unique voices, insights on the role of AI in content production, and sparking conversations that support diverse creators. The conversation emphasizes collaboration over competition while navigating the complexities of the WordPress landscape. - Duration: 28:24 - Episode URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/episode/a37e376e-c3cc-4000-a551-8577d63d1da0) - Show URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/show/7561a2b8-207e-4292-8139-9577640f5c35) - Export date: 2026-02-17T23:32:21 ## Snips ### [Matt's WordPress Content Journey](https://share.snipd.com/snip/75096b41-f0bc-4c16-8c4a-b28b7085d74b) 🎧 01:23 - 04:05 (02:42) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/c9f016af-c32e-43e0-b52e-79c6874fbe1b" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Matt Report has 17 years of WordPress content creation experience with a focused business lane. - Despite 291 videos, he has fewer subscribers than Imran from Web Squadron, illustrating different content strategies. #### 💬 Quote > I've only got 19,000 subscribers on YouTube, 291 videos. So, you know, he's almost 10x-ing me on the amount of videos he's put out and, you know, 5 or 6x me on the subscriber count. > — Matt Matt discussing WordPress content creation experience and audience size #### 📚 Transcript **Matt:** well, let me get the harsh criticism out of the way. By the way, welcome to the Matt Report. We're not talking about AI today. Well, here's the AI news. Claude's going up in price. Claude code's going up in price now with weekly limits, and I'm sure they'll introduce another tier of payment, probably around $1,000 a month if you don't want limits. Anyway, back to WordPress. Okay, so with the gloves off, the sort of unfiltered feedback, and as somebody who has done this for a while and who has really focused on a particular lane in WordPress, which is the WordPress business side of it, both like what's happening in the economy of WordPress, acquisitions, investments, new products, new companies, agencies, freelancers, pay rates, getting clients, like that kind of thing. But much more from like the analytical and, you know, sharing story side of it, not really trying to like here's how you can run your WordPress agency and make five million dollars a year like it's not that angle I mean those of you that know me know me and I don't often cover it that way so I've chosen a particular lane which is kept the publication small or the audience small I do think there's only 10,000 English-speaking people in WordPress that care about the real inside baseball of WordPress, both community, economy, like this WP Engine stuff. I think there's a cap to that. The people actually care what's happening with WordPress. And then you get somebody like Imran from WebSquadron. I mean, he has 143,000 subscribers. He's put out 2.6 videos to get to that point. It's hard for me as a veteran WordPress creator and one that has, I mean, if I say limit myself, it's a bit of an excuse, but I've picked a very fine focus. I've only got 19,000 subscribers on YouTube, 291 videos. So, you know, he's almost 10x-ing me on the amount of videos he's put out and, you know, 5 or 6x me on the subscriber count. But I don't really see, like if you have that many subscribers, I find it hard to agree with like the gatekeeping and holding other creators back. In fact, I remember when Imran and Paul Charlton, who's been a guest on the show, did a creator roundtable. They were doing a --- ### [Echo Chamber Perception and Content Impact](https://share.snipd.com/snip/863ce09c-69df-478c-aca0-0370f09c806b) 🎧 05:26 - 09:07 (03:41) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/4b494fb7-8d1c-4ccc-b556-b2d33ef208e7" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - The feeling of a WordPress echo chamber may come from creators' focus on content amplification. - It's more important to reach and impact the actual audience than to rely on other creators sharing your work. #### 💬 Quote > I think what he's missing, which a lot of us creators do, is does it really matter that the other creators aren't amplifying the content more than the actual audience and the content consumers actually crossing over into different timelines, right? > — Matt Matt reflecting on content amplification and echo chamber feelings #### 📚 Transcript **Matt:** And Remkes sort of says, you know, in his piece that, you know, he's making an editorial decision to say, I'm not, you know, since Imran covers a lot of Elementor stuff, that he doesn't cover Elementor stuff and page builder stuff. And his focus is on, you know, what I might label as like hardcore developers and performance and security people. This is why Remkis doesn't ever really cover any of my stuff, which is more like the WordPress business side. You know, some news topics that I wish all creators would cover. But that's, you know, the point that, you know, trying to make with emron is i've sort of let that go i understand that people have you know their lanes that they stay in and that they don't subscribe to everybody's stuff and it is a human thing to be like these are the things that i'm interested in these are the people that i'm interested in again paul charlton imran a bunch of other guys had their creator channel or create a roundtable never got the call fine we move on right i think there's a bit of a um especially for creators. Like I, and maybe this is where the issue lies with Imran is he's thinking there's an echo chamber because he's a creator. He's in the space, he's making content and he's evaluating what's happening with his content. Much like I do. I feel like I put out a great piece, a good video, a nice blog post, and I wait for people to share it. And I want to see the impact. It's not so much about the numbers and the amplification of it. It's much more about how do people feel about this piece of content that I put out, especially if it's something that I spent a lot of time and effort and energy on. I think what he's missing, which a lot of us creators do, is does it really matter that the other creators aren't amplifying the content more than the actual audience and the content consumers actually crossing over into different timelines, right? So how many of the folks that listen to my stuff also listen to Imran's stuff, or my stuff and Remkis stuff? How about all three, right? I found over the years that I'm a WordPress content fanatic. Like, I consume every piece of content that goes out in the WordPress world. I mean, maybe not every, but I watch everybody. That's how I saw Imran's video. That's how I saw Remkis' blog post. And I know those guys don't follow my stuff that closely, and that's okay. I'm in the business of, I'm in the knowledge business. I need to know these things. I need to know what everyone's thinking and doing for the job that I have at Gravity Forms. I need to know and understand what's happening across the ecosystem for my own work. So I realize I'm a bit of an outlier, but I think that with creators specifically, you know, just by the nature of the business, we have a magnifying glass on what's happening, on who's sharing what, what content's going out. And it's business at the end of the day. Like we're all looking, at least the creators, they say it or not, whether they say it or not, like they're all looking for that, you know, amplification, feedback, and they want to know that how can I grow my --- ### [Amplify Others Authentically](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9365dd7f-3066-428c-a711-257c18828ef7) 🎧 09:47 - 12:41 (02:54) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/9deceeb1-8710-4044-b580-2763c914fd16" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Creators should actively amplify others beyond just podcast collaborations. - Philanthropic actions like hiring and supporting smaller creators create meaningful community support. #### 💬 Quote > I've always tried to be as philanthropic as I possibly can be because I am very fortunate...I also reinvest it back into the business through hiring great folks...I've been working with Bridget Willard for some marketing efforts. > — Matt Matt sharing how he supports other WordPress content creators #### 📚 Transcript **Matt:** is something I've heard other content creators say in the past, like, oh, we want to amplify others. want to do all this stuff. And I never see them really amplify anybody else, you know, short of doing like, well, a podcast episode, maybe call it a collab. Okay, if that's your bar for collaboration and amplification and uplifting others, cool. I've always tried to be as philanthropic as I possibly can be because I am very fortunate to have a great job at Gravity Forms and still be able to do stuff with the WP Minute. the WP Minute is not my livelihood. It makes a nice side income, but I also reinvest it back into the business through hiring great folks like Eric Karkovac to write, edit, and produce a lot of what's happening at the WP Minute. I've been working with Bridget Willard for some marketing efforts. I've been working with Raquel, though she doesn't really make any money from me. She is part of the team because we just do like this cross collab stuff with her efforts with PressConf. And I've been bringing on some new writers and investing in new writers in an age where everyone's saying that writing's dying because of AI. I also do things like invest in other media brands, right? There's other newsletters that I support that I either pay monetarily to support and advertise, to cross collab with the WP World, WP Founders, which I take my sponsorship money and give it to them and say, hey, I'll help you, small creator. So these are areas where I've, like, again, the gloves kind of come off with me. Not that I'm, like, saying anything harsh here, but I am a little bit more unfiltered in the WordPress media stuff because I've been living it for, whatever, 17, 18 years at this point. And I feel like I try to do things as professional and as business-like as possible. Because I do want the WP Minute eventually to run without me just like seeped in the business or as the brand. It's why I transitioned from Matt Report, which you're listening to right now, to the WP Minute to make that happen. So anyway, yeah, I get really in the weeds when I hear these things. The premise is correct. We do want to support others, but how does that happen? And I think thinking diverse, again, he's saying things like we want to bring in other thoughts, but I feel like I don't, and to be honest, I should have said at the outset, I don't know who he's really referring to in this. He says it's not a rant. He doesn't want to call it a rant. It's fine. I've said that too before. He wants to frame --- ### [Distinguishing WordPress Software and Community](https://share.snipd.com/snip/608a172f-2512-4603-8220-783349f0788c) 🎧 14:40 - 17:05 (02:25) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/04b96414-c163-4357-8087-de2ed70579f1" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Open source WordPress is just software, not a guarantee of broad inclusion or promotion. - The community layer atop WordPress fosters inclusiveness, but software utility and community are distinct concepts. #### 💬 Quote > Open source WordPress is just a piece of software. And it would do everybody better if they saw that as the utility, right? > — Matt Matt clarifying the difference between WordPress open source and the community #### 📚 Transcript **Matt:** he mentioned something about like open source being this like open source WordPress it should be this thing where everyone is celebrated. Well, yes, but open source does not mean, and I think maybe this is a touch of what Imran's getting to, open source WordPress doesn't mean that everyone gets promoted and everyone gets a free pass. I think people are confusing open source WordPress and the open community that we have. Open source WordPress is just a piece of software. And it would do everybody better if they saw that as the utility, right? WordPress is this piece of open source software that everyone sort of like gives into, or not gives into, but invests into and uplifts and whatever, develops. And it is through that utility that great things can happen. You can make a website, you can make an e-commerce store, you can hack it up and build an app. People can break it apart and learn from it. People can get jobs by being skilled with it. And oh, by the way, there's like this layer of a community on top of that. And it's the open community where that all inclusiveness sort of exists. I think a lot of people just look at WordPress and go, well, WordPress should include everything. Like, why aren't they, who's they, including everything from Elementor to, you know, Divi to Beaver Builder and like all this other stuff? Like, why don't they include all of this? Well, there is no they, technically. Hell, there's no marketing machine for WordPress. Allegedly, there was a YouTube, head of YouTube that was supposed to do stuff with WordPress. I mean, talk about an echo chamber. really haven't seen anything happen with that. Remember, gloves are off when it comes to talking about this WordPress content stuff. And WordPress doesn't owe you anything. You don't actually owe WordPress anything, contrary to popular lawsuits. It --- ### [Engage Across WordPress Niches](https://share.snipd.com/snip/71c92d74-4408-4d6b-a20a-78c0b9aa00ff) 🎧 20:29 - 21:26 (00:57) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/95440690-b1ce-4f00-b3c4-e4271b92bfd7" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - When feeling excluded by content creators, try to understand their perspective and editorial focus. - Engage with different WordPress niches to stand alongside diverse creators. #### 💬 Quote > As soon as you feel like, hey, things are pretty clicky over here...I try to just like look at that and say, okay, what do I have to know in order to like just stand side by side with this person? > — Matt Matt advising on how to approach feelings of exclusion in WordPress content community #### 📚 Transcript **Matt:** generate press to help me, you know, build out those more, what I'll call complex pages. But I think the important thing is, is that time. As soon as you feel like, hey, things are pretty clicky over here, I don't really get it, or my stuff's not being shared, I try to see what I possibly could be missing from that point of view. maybe why they don't include my stuff or why I might not be air quotes allowed to come into the room. And I try to just like look at that and say, okay, what do I have to know in order to just stand side by side with this person? And maybe Imran has to, you know, do a little bit, you know, more of that. Remkis, again, he's saying like, hey, this is my editorial control over my publication. This is how I want my newsletter to be. And that's totally cool. --- ### [Create Your Unique WordPress Voice](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f06229f2-6511-4548-a1cf-043ea6a192bc) 🎧 25:11 - 27:16 (02:05) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/0b2091c4-9b31-434a-b286-765be747580d" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Start your own WordPress newsletter, podcast, or channel to share your unique opinion. - Focus on providing valuable, substantive content rather than chasing growth metrics or keywords. #### 💬 Quote > Start your newsletter, start your podcast, start your YouTube channel... The challenge is to cultivate that audience and not just simply find a collection of links but to actually have an opinion. > — Matt Matt encouraging WordPress creators to develop their own opinionated content #### 📚 Transcript **Matt:** your newsletter, start your podcast, start your YouTube channel. Do it all. The challenge is to cultivate that audience and not just simply find a collection of links that are different than mine, but to actually have an opinion, like to actually write your opinion, share your opinion online. And I think that that's how you forge a reputation, a unique set of content and how you grow an audience. Like, you know, I don't approach YouTube. I don't approach any of this, which I've talked about in past episodes. I don't approach any of this in some kind of like how to grow my YouTube channel, how to grow my newsletter, how to grow my blog, how to grow my podcast. Like I'm not researching keywords. I'm not trying to hook you for better or worse. Like what I'm saying is I have this really strong opinion of somebody who's a power user slash agency owner slash working at a professional capacity in the WordPress ecosystem, both in a hosting company and a product company who has talked to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of other WordPress professionals over the last 15 years. I have built this sort of opinion and this desire to see like WordPress through all of these experiences, that's my angle. I just put it out there, whether you like it or not, whether you like my intros, transitions, makes no difference to me. I am not trying to grow that. I am trying to put out great content, or what I feel is great content of value, of substance that can impact an individual, whether that's in 30 seconds or 30 minutes like this podcast episode today. Anyway, love your thoughts. Leave a comment. --- Created with [Snipd](https://www.snipd.com) | Highlight & Take Notes from Podcasts