Media Consumption And The Consequences For Creativity
The more voices there are, the more frequent the repetition. As people’s consumption of media increases, the distinction between influence and copying gets a little fuzzy.
Take my Facebook status updates. I’ll think of something funny to say and up it goes. I did this once and within half an hour a friend changed their status to say they were doing the same thing because they thought it would get a laugh. I mean, thanks, but also - no. Because that person and I shared no mutual friends, they copied my content to appear funny to their own circle of contacts. The fact that that I will be the only person who knows this didn’t matter to them, because all their network will think they are being original. It’s not worth saying something about, but you know.
With so many blogs and social networking applications out there, there has never been more pressure to be original, but if you’re creating content yourself, don’t forget that web audiences are very widely read.
There is more content out there than ever before, so you’d think there is less chance of someone seeing your idea and the content you ripped off, right? Wrong.
People consume more media because they do it more efficiently. Personal digital recorders help us catch up with TV shows and try out new ones on whims our schedules would never otherwise accommodate. RSS readers pull in posts from blogs, headlines, features and editorial opinion columns.
As well as volume and efficiency, there is speed. Online articles are usually less that 500 words. We digest them like candy floss and go buzzing along to the next one. Being well read doesn’t involve pouring over column inches any more. Television programmes, after adverts, can be a little as 23 minutes. People take in a lot of information and will spot something they’ve seen before.
People have never been exposed to more creativity, so writers need to make sure their material is original - because it sure as hell won’t stay that way for long.
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October 29th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Wow, I’ve had a really great idea of writing something on my blog about creativity. No-one else will have done that, surely…
To be serious, though, Cliff, if you are original in any way, you should celebrate that fact and enjoy it (that’s not to say I don’t think you’re original, by the way).
Stuff what other people think, as long as you know that you are the talented one.
Hopefully one day, someone will realise this and you will reap the rewards you so richly deserve. In the meantime, bask in your own reflected glow.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
It’s difficult. I keep seeing things you’ve written about and it makes me want to write about them, and then I see other people write about things and it makes me want to write about them.
It’s probably better to write your blog posts before you go through your blog roll…