Many CEOs aren’t fans of social media. Some view it as a waste of time that could be used “running the company.”

What they are missing is how it is just the latest chapter in an arc of executive communications spanning the past four decades. CEOs have gradually taken on bigger and bigger roles as the chief storyteller.

When I started as a reporter in the 1990s, it was hard to connect with CEOs. You couldn’t call them and email wasn’t public. Twitter didn’t exist.

Everything went through gatekeepers, starting with the PR firms. If they had a message, they leaked it to the newspapers or arranged a CNBC appearance. That was the playbook: work through institutional channels.

People forget that CEOs weren’t even on earnings calls 25 years ago. The CFO handled those. Before Steve Jobs, product launches weren’t CEO events either. Steve Jobs’ unpacking of the iPhone was revolutionary.

Now, CEOs handle the earnings calls and give more speeches. Zuckerberg’s last four major Meta product launches were announced with him holding up an iPhone doing Instagram Reels.

Technology gives them direct distribution to stakeholders. That never existed before. You had to go through reporters to get your message out.

If you’re a 60-year-old CEO, you didn’t grow up doing this. Your peer group isn’t modeling this behavior. It seems weird to see Sam Altman post directly.

But there’s no going back because the advantages of direct communication are immense.

Note: This video is from a podcast episode I did with Finn Thormeier, here’s the full episode:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/0Aazbgwyqfc