Internet Guru, Clay Shirky, wrote a book entitled "Here Comes Everybody" in 2009. He predicted that the free "social web" would unearth new ideas which galvanize people more efficiently and more authentically than top down organizations ever could.
As welcome and refreshing as his prediction is, it turns out it isn't so easy. Eliminating the cost to publish and read ideas is more likely to add worthless content to the clutter than make it easier to discover better content. And making content that stands out in this clutter is more challenging than ever.
Learning to create is a lot easier when the choice of medium is limited to a piece of paper and charcoal, a harmonica, or one language.
Today's media choices are abundant - text only, text & graphics, audio, video, organic or electronic, in real time and archival, dynamic or static, etc., and languages (knowing your work will be automatically translated into other languages adds a whole other dimension to carefully choosing your words).
Each additional choice or consideration adds another brick and more mortar to the "creative block".
No one person can master all these skills. With technology evolving so quickly, mastery isn't even durable. So adding to the density of the "creative block" are natural insecurities about collaborating and continually re-learning how to apply one's expertise.
If we hope for original new ideas to be found in today's multimedia, we need to disrupt the "creative block". Answer the question "where to start?" by simplifying the choices. Educate in a collaborative environment so individuals are learning how to learn from each other and create as a team. Transform education from something you do exclusively in your youth to perpetual.
To learn more about our idea, check out mediamashing.
