Just over 25 years ago I walked away from a career I loved, covering emerging technologies as a syndicated columnist for major daily newspapers. I explained to readers that I wasn’t content to sit on the sidelines as the digital world took shape.
I wrapped up my final column with this thought:
“Years from now, we'll look back on this time and tell our children about the early days of the Net. Maybe we'll speak fondly of a time when cyberspace was still worth visiting. We may marvel just how far it has come since the early days of the 1990s.”
Respectfully, I suggest that we failed.
Back then, we spoke passionately about the potential. We were convinced that Internet was going to be a great marketplace of ideas, a rapidly evolving world where anyone can be a publisher, writer, critic, creator, customer and/or business owner.
Today we are desperate to detoxify ourselves from the bile, misinformation, and seemingly bottomless pit of venom unleashed on anyone who dares to share their views. To protect ourselves, we’ve built echo chambers where we are safe from thoughts of those who don’t think like us.
Step up
We spend vast amounts of time lamenting the loss of privacy, the seemingly endless ways people can hijack the work of others, how a powerful few seem to never run out of ways to exploit others.
How have we lost our way? Think about great civilizations that have faded into history. Their business districts are dilapidated, crime-ridden no man’s lands. The roads are crumbling, buildings sit empty, and the population is gone, moved on to somewhere better.
If we don’t act, and act now, then the digital world too will be just a collection of less crappy places so spend our money, covet our privacy and tune out the noise. It won’t matter what format we use for the experience, if the soul is gone then it’s just a hollow shell.
It is up to us to act. Not some government body, court or (God forbid) a collection of billionaires.
It has to be the businesses who make our living in this space.
It has to be the developers who create miraculous ways for people to do in a couple clicks things that were never possible before, or that which took days or months to complete.
It has to be financial institutions who have created the systems that let us buy, sell or otherwise move money from just about anywhere, at any time. Yes, even those who swim in the murky waters of crypto currencies.
It has to be the marketers, those massively varied souls who spend our days working out where, when and how to best connect goods and services with the general public.
It starts with what matters
Ironically, despite the dimensions of the digital rot, the list of prescribed actions is mercifully short. And it starts with knowing what you value. Remember those mission statements that always seemed like fluff. Time to make them mean something.
If your business exists to connect people with the storehouse of knowledge, then own it. What is your position on people trying to block access to learning? How do you feel about freedom speech, even when it is speech you loath?
Put your investments, traffic and transactions where your values are shared. If you’re committed to a better customer experience, then demand that from your developers. Don’t accept that it has to be seven clicks just to start a relationship with someone. Don’t just have a check out flow. Make it human by thinking through what is missing from the real-world counterpart.
Whatever your mission, whatever your promise is to your consumers, commit to it. Then make sure every dollar spent on marketing, development, or operations, reflects what you value. Commit to a standard by which you hold yourself, then don’t lower it.
Marketers know that chasing revenue through discounts seldom grows a business. Discounting the brand’s values is an even more slippery slope and the costs can be terrifying.
The internet made you a publisher, so what kind of content are you creating? It doesn’t have to be the New York Times, but don’t be the equivalent of a trashy tabloid, exploiting the latest buzz phrase to buy a cheap click. If you value creativity, then invest in creative content. Be the new benefactors in search of a new Rembrandt, Hemingway or even Scorsese.
Look for your moments
Every action you take creates a moment to define the digital world you want to be part of. Look at every element of your digital experience and make sure it speaks to what matters to you.
Is the copy a clear, sharp articulation of the value you provide?
Do the headlines speak to customers the way you would if you were face to face?
Are the pictures and graphics you use reflecting the diversity of your audience, not just their demographics, but their interests, their desires?
Are you telling the stories of your employees and customers, shining your light on the people who made your company what it is, or what you want it to be?
Developers, you too have a critical hand here. What are you doing to make the experience on this site that much better than the others? Beyond being functional, are you making easier for consumers, promoting their interests over the efficiency of harvesting data?
Lastly, all of us have a role in celebrating the hidden treasures we find. Maybe we can spend a fraction of the time we invest in sharing memes to celebrate new experiences online.
Thankfully, it’s still true that no one owns the internet. But if you’re spending money on it, either as a business or a customer then you own a voice in where it goes from here. Don’t let yourself be silenced as the future is being plotted.
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