Sociology
I don’t know anybody who loves pop radio. I know people who listen to it ironically, as though they’re not comfortable admitting they don’t entirely hate Lady Gaga. And I know people who admit to liking just Lady Gaga, or just Usher, but still insist they “hate the radio.” But why do we (claim to) [...]
Continue reading about The Popularity Paradox: Why Do We Hate Pop Culture?
If you write, speak or perform for a living, you need an audience. Without one, you don’t get paid. (Hell, online, you still don’t get paid even with one. But I digress…) Your audience is one way to validate your success as a communicator. But your audience is also a trap. If they love you, [...]
Continue reading about 5 Reasons NOT to Listen to Your Audience
I just finished the first book I’ve devoured in more than a decade. Mark Harris’s Pictures at a Revolution details the making of the 5 Best Picture nominees at the 1968 Academy Awards, from their initial concepts through their critical and public reception. Two of those films, In the Heat of the Night and Guess [...]
Continue reading about The Secret to Media Success: Making the Audience Care
What if our newspapers were filled with articles on how to write for newspapers? What if the only books we printed were books about how to sell books? What if TV shows consisted solely of monologues about TV? I doubt we’d have much use for them at all. So why do we accept it in [...]
One of the web’s primary flaws is that it’s actually too easy to use. And as content becomes ever easier to create, finding quality content becomes even more difficult. That’s the general premise of Andrew Keen‘s Cult of the Amateur, which lobbies for the return of cultural gatekeepers. It’s when those gatekeepers are reinstated, Keen [...]
