Samuel Monthuley

Let’s start with you. Who are you, and what lens do you bring to understanding people online?

I am a strategic communicator who accidentally became a social intelligence nerd. I run Quercus, a French agency born from a desire to turn complex data into clear insight and relevant advice. My lens is part-strategist, part-PR, part-analyst: I’m obsessed with how brands are seen, who shapes conversations, and why certain narratives stick while others don’t. I have always had a passion for graphs and KPIs but I am aware this isn’t true for everyone – so my role is to help my clients get the most out of their data. 

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What’s a working theory you have right now about how people behave online?

People don’t follow brands on social media, they follow culture. The tone, format, and timing of a message often matter more than who’s saying it. I believe that a brand’s success on social media often depends on how well it mimics the cultural context of its community. Not just what it says, but how and when it says it. 

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What’s an insight you surfaced that you still think about? What one stuck with you?

During the Vendée Globe race, we noticed that the skipper generating the most positive conversation wasn’t the frontrunner and eventual winner. It was a lesser-known sailor supported by a consortium of smaller sponsors, Violette Dorange. She didn’t win the race, but her story resonated: a young woman defying expectations and following her dream to become the youngest skipper ever to sail around the world. The key insight? Visibility didn’t come from performance or budget, but from emotional storytelling. 

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What’s the weirdest rabbit hole your work has ever sent you down? And what did it teach you?

Last year, I spent hours analyzing how Wikipedia pages are edited almost in real time during a social media crisis. You need to be very careful and attentive because these edits can sometimes include false or unverified information. It taught me that earned visibility isn’t limited to traditional or social media. Platforms like Wikipedia or Reddit already shape public understanding much more than we realize, and they’re often overlooked in communications strategies.

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What skills or mindsets do you think the next generation of analysts will need?

Following up on my previous answer, I think that the ability to meaningfully combine datasets from different sources is becoming essential. Social data alone rarely gives the full picture. The real value comes when you connect it with search, media coverage, web traffic, or even internal business data. Has this social buzz driven traffic to our website? Has there been an impact on our sales following the recent social media crisis? What are the consequences of that influencer’s video on our search requests? The next generation of analysts will need to move between tools, teams, datasets, and contexts, and extract insights with a broader perspective. Adaptability and strategic thinking will matter just as much as technical skill.

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What’s a niche community, account, or corner of the internet you’re watching right now? And why?

Great question! We have been monitoring a set of very technical keywords for a project in the German energy industry – a highly complex topic. What’s fascinating is how active and engaged this niche community is on social media. Experts, companies, and even policymakers use platforms like LinkedIn and X to discuss market trends, share ideas, promote initiatives, and discuss political decisions in real time. This little group of experts is a micro-community with macro-level engagement. It’s a reminder that some of the most valuable conversations online aren’t always the loudest. There’s a lot brands can learn from how these niche communities build trust and influence over time. 

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Last non-work thing you read that shaped your thinking?

I haven’t read it yet, but a client recently recommended “A New Pair of Glasses” by Chuck C. It’s a book about perspective and emotional clarity. What makes it meaningful is how it came up: after I opened up about some recent mental health challenges in a client meeting, he thanked me for my honesty and simply said “I’ve gone through something like that, too.” We spoke for 45 minutes about stress and parenting. That moment strengthened our relationship and reminded me that vulnerability can be a bridge, not a weakness, even at work. I’m looking forward to reading the book with that in mind.

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