If the Internet was really just the Internet, then why would Reed Hoffman, the Founder of LinkedIn, call the Internet "The Consumer Internet" in his book The Start Up of You?
(Great book btw, definitely check it out if you haven't had a chance yet).
I'll tell you why. Because anything that you read on the Internet for free...is an opinion piece. This included. I was toying with the idea of calling all free media and content propaganda, but only with the intention of inciting some type of visceral reaction from you. Regardless, I don't think propaganda is too far from the truth, but I'll stick with "opinion pieces" and give the rest of the journalists out there a break.
Unless you're willing to pay for your media consumption habits, like the Wall Street Journal, or the Harvard Business Review, you seriously need to consider taking everything with a grain of salt.
We're even beginning to openly acknowledge, in the form of a running joke it seems, that wikipedia is flawed at times. I just heard a Podcast with Tim Ferris where he and the guest chuckled at the idea of trusting their Wikipedia bios. All I'm saying is that in a world of on-demand free content we need to remember why humans created 'barriers to entry' in the first place. My comments have nothing to do with who should be allowed to consume content and everything to do with paying people for their art.
And a lot of the time, picking up a book is a lot better use of your time than opening a new tab.
Just because something CAN take up your attention, doesn't mean that it should. Remember to ask yourself how things make you feel. "Was this worth my time?" But even more importantly "When I put down that book, or when I close that tab, do I feel inspired?"
There are so many things that inspire me on a daily basis...but the internet...doesn't seem to be one of them. Then again, I guess I don't really read on the internet. It all just seems to fly by, like the boy in the image at the top of the post. Clicking from one page to the next as though there is something I need to get to faster, quicker....when I really need to be slowing down. Thinking things through. Asking myself the tough introspective questions I posed above...
Unless you're willing to pay for your media consumption habits, like the Wall Street Journal, or the Harvard Business Review, you seriously need to consider taking everything with a grain of salt.
We're even beginning to openly acknowledge, in the form of a running joke it seems, that wikipedia is flawed at times. I just heard a Podcast with Tim Ferris where he and the guest chuckled at the idea of trusting their Wikipedia bios. All I'm saying is that in a world of on-demand free content we need to remember why humans created 'barriers to entry' in the first place. My comments have nothing to do with who should be allowed to consume content and everything to do with paying people for their art.
And a lot of the time, picking up a book is a lot better use of your time than opening a new tab.
Just because something CAN take up your attention, doesn't mean that it should. Remember to ask yourself how things make you feel. "Was this worth my time?" But even more importantly "When I put down that book, or when I close that tab, do I feel inspired?"
There are so many things that inspire me on a daily basis...but the internet...doesn't seem to be one of them. Then again, I guess I don't really read on the internet. It all just seems to fly by, like the boy in the image at the top of the post. Clicking from one page to the next as though there is something I need to get to faster, quicker....when I really need to be slowing down. Thinking things through. Asking myself the tough introspective questions I posed above...
There is a consumer internet. And a creator internet. Which one do you want to be a part of?
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