A new creative world

Jeff Jarvis has a really stellar post on the myth of the creative class. I encourage everybody to go and read it, since it certainly puts some things in perspective.

For me the takeaway is that with the advent of the web and everybody as a potential contributor, publisher, creator etc. we’re not witnessing the death of the creative class. We’re witnessing the birth of it. Or better yet: Of a new creative world.

Why? Because so far the creative class has been somewhat of a closed club. Yes, talents had an opportunity to strike it big, get great exposure, devoted fans and all the cash in the world. But how often haven’t we heard an artist contribute parts of his or hers at least initial success to luck? Numerous times.

In other words luck and the guts to actually walk the extra mile and expose yourself - with the risk of failure - was a differentiator in order to determine who made it into the club and who didn’t.

Not so with the internet. Here everybody can step out with next to no or very little effort. Yes, it produces a lot of crap, but the flipside of the coin is really interesting, as Jarvis also points out: With the amount of crap, standing out takes even more raw talent than ever. Sheer luck - or knowing the right people - becomes less of a deciding factor.

So not only do we get the promise of more raw talent. Because everybody can have an audience with the internet we also get the promise of new talent in fields, where we wouldn’t have thought it possible just 10 years ago. And with that we all become richer due to a more diverse and fine granulated culture.

All in all, there’s really no reason to be despondent as far as creativity goes. It’s thriving. And the biggest talents will still find ways to make a living from it, so let’s not be gloomy about that either.

The key to all this working well is search. The ability to find the best things as defined by our individual tastes quickly and with ease. Thank God for search engines.

Vad NU! is a consultancy company owned by Mads Kristensen and specialized in helping clients take advantage of the business opportunities created by new media. Click to learn how I can help you and your company.