Choosing the right audience for the content I'm creating has always been an uphill battle for me. I suppose it's a form of intellectual snobbery. While I might feel comfortable having a level discussion with industry experts, they are simply not the audience I should be targeting.
There is an appealing aspect to writing for experts - it seemingly validates my own status, making it appear as though I belong to the same group. But there's an uncomfortable reality behind this. I neither have the time nor the energy to work on topics that would truly impress that audience. Instead, I'm missing the opportunity to help those I really want to help, which, deep down, is my true goal: to create content that's accessible and beneficial to a wider audience.
If you think about it, experts rarely need another basic and verbose explanation. I'm a perfect example of this myself. Regardless of whether I can be considered an expert in my own field, when processing content, I usually just skim it to extract anything I might find helpful. In most cases, this results in only a statement, sentence, or particular use case I might explore further.
This realisation hit me when I was talking to my son about his speed-cube content. He wasn't targeting people who wanted to learn; he was making the same mistake I do. He desperately wanted to be perceived as an expert. Meanwhile, in any subject, there are always more people who might genuinely benefit from simpler content. More importantly, there's a market for that.
Hence, the real challenge is not only to correctly identify the right audience but also to be honest about whom you really want to target. Ignoring this creates a gap—a strange middle ground where the content might seem too shallow for actual experts and elusive for those who could really use it.
I need to make this my own learning path by reconsidering my approach. Perhaps I should focus more on the things I would have appreciated when learning about specific topics. In the end, true expertise lies in making complex things simpler, accessible, and approachable.