You need to stop with all that small-minded trash
"None at all! Having a "model" is just a way of limiting yourself to what your idol have achieved. By doing so, you actually don't strive for the best but for the second best, after your idol. I just carefully watch what works and learn." — Carl Ocab
There something I've been wanting to talk about for months, but I was hesitant to say anything. I was worried that people would take it the wrong way. Fortunately, this kid beat me to it. Now that he has spoken everything that was on my mind I have one thing to say to all of you:
You need to stop with all of that small-minded trash
I see this every day in the blogging community: people are always in a hurry to put the A-listers on a pedestal. I don't know when it happened, but it's all about celebrities now. It's not just blogging, though. I see this in my own field, among designers and developers. It's all about what the pros say. No one wants to be original anymore. How many people are actually creating things these days? How many people are making a name for themselves? More importantly, what are you doing?
If you aren't a signal, you don't exist
I say these things because I'm tired of reading blogs that never say anything more than, "xyz famous person just said, blah blah blah, and I think, blah." Some people have blogs that are nothing more than an echo chamber for all the people that already get enough exposure as it is. I don't know about you, but I have no interest in reading an echo chamber. I don't know what people are trying to accomplish when all they do is regurgitate what their idols say, but I wish they would realize that it's useless. It's just more noise, and in this online world, it's the shiny wheel that gets the grease. Maybe not grease… more like fame.
You're a nice guy, but that arrogant jerk just got a promotion
I'll tell you one thing, and I'm pretty sure I've said it before: I don't read very many blogs. I don't read them very often either. I'm too busy creating new things. I have a few bloggers that I follow because they create original content, and the things they write are either very useful to me or simply entertaining. If they ever got to a point where they were just linking things or following someone else, I would stop reading. If I want something, I'll go to the source. If something is newsworthy, I'll get it in the news. Unless it's your original work, I won't get it from you.
This is not, however, all about content. This is about being assertive, too. Assertive is that nice balance between modest and arrogant. Assertive people are my favorite kind. If you ever want to go places, you have to be one of them. You have to know what you are capable of and believe that you are great at all of it. This means that you can't just try to be like someone else. You can't just put someone on a pedestal and hope to follow in their footsteps. You have to do something different. Not just good, not even better, new and different. You have to create your own signals.
It's not stealing, it's inspiration
I'm not saying that you shouldn't look at others. What Carl said above is right on the money. Watch what works and learn. Take the things that have been successful and make it all work for you. That's where the real challenge comes: being inspired without being clichéd. Fake Steve Jobs was a runaway hit, but no one really needs another hundred "fake celebrities." No one needs anymore celebrities at all. Celebrities are surrounded by people who make noise. We need more signals. Which side are you on?
p.s. I wrote this entire post with Windows Vista's Speech Recognition technology. It's a lot less painful than typing.
you've made some very interesting points, and I commend you for posting them (I'm sure the impending "flame war" has been a big reason for your hesitation to speak your mind).
I think a big reason behind the "echo chamber" trend of blogging is people's fear of not having anything to say on their blogs. So instead of coming up with their own content it is just easier to fill the webspace up with quotes and then pepper it with their own minor thoughts. And this I feel comes from the whole "content is king" mantra of the blogosphere. The difference being that the "echo chamber"ians aren't reading the fine print of that mantra…."your own content is king".
cheers, Jonesy
I feel you, this is so accurate. People definitely should be creating more!
This is good. Nice wake up call for the blogging masses.