Strategic Insights – We’ve Got Ideas

Can you spot the error? Congratulations--you give a rat's.

I’m using a blog to vent about social media. Can you handle the irony? Are you LOL? Perhaps ROFL? You would think that with the rise in computer-based communication over the last 10+ years that people would become better typists, more aware of grammar, more conscious of spelling. After all, in conversation, these things don’t matter, but when they’re written down, all your ignorance is on display. But here’s the catch–social media has trained us to think that all communication is disposable, and errors inevitable and forgivable. Everyone’s in such a hurry to “push out content” that the accuracy–indeed, the basic structure–of the content is secondary. The internet–and blogging in particular–has turned everyone into writers. This is not necessarily a good thing. Like being a parent, there’s no test one takes to “qualify” for blogging, much less tweeting. If you can enter a username and password, you’ve earned the right to spout off to the world. Don’t worry about proofing, just get it out there! So what happens when those standards infiltrate huge ad agencies and venerated literary magazines? This, which appeared in the New Yorker late last year–on the inside cover, no less. I doubt anyone got fired or even yelled at. After all, it happens every day.

Bill Cokas
Creative Director
Strategic Insights