A Longish Tangent

I'm writing a post for Vistaprint, my employer, right now, so technically I shouldn't be blogging. But it'll be quick, and I thought this was interesting.

The post I'm writing for work right now is a reminder to small business owners that "newer" is not always "better."

While writing the introduction, I got off on a huge tangent, and will have to cut almost all of it for the actual post that I send in, but I thought it was interesting. Take a look:

In our society today, novelty is paramount. We crave the newest of everything. There are several reasons we, as a culture, are slaves to novelty, and these reasons are knotted and fused into one singular acronym: FOMO. We all suffer from an acute case of Fear Of Missing Out.

If a company comes out with a new product, we automatically assume it is better, faster, sleeker, and more powerful than the previous iteration. Thus, we want it. Not only because we can use it to do things faster and better than before, but also because we can tell people about how we’re doing this.

This phenomenon is made even more powerful by social media engines like Twitter and Instagram, where celebrities can keep their fans abreast of whatever they happen to be creating at the moment they’re creating it. However amazing it is that we can see an image of Rihanna in the studio belting out her next single, I think the novelty of the whole thing is completely lost. 

Because we're so wrapped up in knowing exactly what is happening in our favorite stars' lives, it makes it much less interesting and magical when we interact with them "naturally." By naturally, I mean when we hear the new song on the radio or download it from iTunes, or more importantly, when we see them in concert. Personally, I'm a huge Matt Nathanson fan. He's wonderful on Twitter and updates his fans on where he is and how his record is progressing. This is very cool, as I feel like I'm in the studio with him from all the photos he takes. But it makes it strange when I go to see his shows, because I feel like asking him, "Hey Matt, how was that Ana's burrito you had last night and then posted about on Twitter?" 

I want my stars to be more mythical. I want them to come into my life for three hours, rock my face off, and leave me nothing but a t-shirt, a ringing head, and a song on the radio. Now, I can follow whoever I want to whatever far-flung locale their private jet flies them to. 

This wouldn't have happened in the "good old days." 

Imagine Jimmy Page tweeting out: “Just finished 3^rd take of “Stairway” solo.. Think I #nailedit ! #LedZepIV #Zoso”