Gresham's Law: why mediocrity dominates social media

And how to recover quality content

🏷️ Categories: Mental models.

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We live in an attention economy.
And in every economy, when something is produced in excess, its value falls.

History warned us centuries ago. Thomas Gresham, an English merchant, observed that when gold coins and cheap metal coins coexisted with the same nominal value, people hoarded the valuable ones and paid with the cheap ones. No one gave away gold if they could pay with copper.

In the end, the market became flooded with worthless coins (MacLeod, 1858).

Today, the same thing happens—but with ideas.

The algorithm gives equal value to a deep piece and an empty one (if both generate clicks or retention), creating a perverse incentive for creators: publish more, at lower quality, so the algorithm will show their work with less effort.

The system rewards superficiality and punishes depth.
And as in any economy, what’s easiest eventually becomes what’s preferred.

1. Content as Currency

Everything you publish, share, or comment on is now called “content.” And its value no longer depends on its substance—it depends on its performance.

Algorithms don’t understand rigor or nuance, only clicks and retention. If a long, neutral, and rigorous reflection gets the same number of views as a sensationalist phrase (especially if it’s negative), the system considers them equivalent.

Thus, what is simple and quick to produce circulates more widely.
Noise displaces the voice.
Copper displaces gold.

It’s Gresham’s Law applied to information.

2. The Inflation of Content

The rise of artificial intelligence has multiplied the effect.

AI produces text, images, and video at almost zero cost and in infinite quantities. This overproduction has generated inflation: an abundance that reduces the value of each individual piece—just like in economics.

The parallel with Gresham’s Law is clear:

When “low-value” content (repetitive and superficial) is accepted and circulates alongside “good” content (original, human, and thoughtful) with the same apparent worth, the bad tends to dominate the internet—because it’s much easier to produce.

It doesn’t matter whether something adds value—only whether it holds your attention a few seconds longer.

3. The Inversion of Gresham’s Law

In the Middle Ages, good coins disappeared from circulation.
Today, good creators do the same.

Tired of the noise, they retreat into small communities, niche newsletters, and spaces where quality still matters to someone. Meanwhile, the mass public space (Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram, and search engines) fills up with “bad coins”: fast, generic, emotional, disposable content.

Lists, recycled quotes, exaggerated opinions.
All made to provoke reaction, not understanding.

In the short term, that kind of content dominates because it’s profitable—but each easy click erodes trust a little more, until the audience stops believing those sources and looks elsewhere.

And that’s exactly where change begins.

The most attentive readers—those tired of saturation, clickbait, and noise—are slowly returning to spaces where the internet can still be used to think. Newsletters, communities, and educational podcasts show that there is still interest in quality knowledge.

Substack is proof that people got tired of suffering from Gresham’s Law.

Systems change when incentives change.
And incentives change when we decide to value something different.

If we keep rewarding speed and provocation, emptiness will keep winning. If we choose to read with discernment, write with intention, and use platforms that allow ideas longer than 280 characters or 1 minute, quality will return.

Like gold—which, no matter what happens, will always be worth more than copper.

Want to go deeper? Here are 3 related ideas:

• Peter Principle: Why mediocre people become leaders

• Superficial: What the internet is doing to our minds

• Why I Stopped Watching the News: Noise and the search for depth

✍️ Your turn: When was the last time an idea changed the way you think—and didn’t just make you nod quickly and keep scrolling?

💭 Quote of the day: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” — Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

See you next time! 👋

References 📚

1. MacLeod, H. D. (1858). The Theory and Practice of Banking. Vol. 1 URL