1990 vs. 2020


1990 vs 2020.png

Imagine it’s 1990.

You’re driving to work in your Acura Legend when suddenly a brilliant idea pops into your head. You just can’t shake it. You want to share your blistering insight with as many people as possible. What are your options? You can: ​

  • Tell your friends and family

  • Speak at an event

  • Call a reporter or news station

  • Write a letter to the editor

  • Submit an article to a local or national publication

  • Use connections to earn a TV or radio appearance

If you’re really committed, you can take it a step further. No one wants to publish your article? You can pool resources and start your own magazine. You can make a VHS tape of yourself speaking and mail it to people. You can burn a CD of yourself talking and pass it out on the street. You can rent a billboard.

The point is, your options were limited.

Fast-forward 30 years, to 2020. You’re driving to work, and BAM! A brilliant insight hits you. An absolute must-share. What are your options? You can:​

  • Fire off a Tweet

  • Make a YouTube video

  • Share a Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn post

  • Comment on Reddit

  • Publish a blog article​

With even a modest following you’ll soon make a few hundred impressions. If your idea has legs that number quickly jumps to the thousands. And while uncommon, your truly brilliant thought could potentially reach a million of people by the time you’re home for dinner. ​

The world we live in today is fundamentally different from the world of 1990. Software and the Internet carried us from a world of information scarcity to one of information abundance.

As a result, the bottleneck has moved. The old constraints were reach and distribution. Look at those 1990 examples again. Back then you had two forces working against you: most actions carried a marginal cost, and each method of sharing had a gatekeeper. Spreading information was expensive and required permission.

Now look at the 2020 examples. You get to share your idea instantly. Each additional click on YouTube or Twitter costs you nothing. There’s no marginal cost per additional view. And you control the terms of what you share, when. ​

Software and the Internet have democratized the ability to broadcast.

What does that mean for writing online? In 1990, when spreading ideas was costly, messages had to be thoroughly planned before they were shared. Newspaper and magazine editors made sure only the sharpest product was shipped. Space was limited, and every page counted.

Today, you can publish as much as you want on the Internet, for free. This flips how you should approach the creative process. Instead of perfecting your message, you should publish your writing early and often. Use the collective feedback of the Internet to refine your views. Continue to develop your thinking through consistent publishing. As David Perell puts it in the Write of Passage podcast:

“When the cost of failure is high, you plan first and act second. But when the cost of failure is low, it’s better to act first and plan second.”​

Sharing your ideas online has almost no downside and potentially limitless upside. Ship early and often, and tap into the global idea marketplace.


This article is adapted from my weekly newsletter, Future Glance, where I share writing and ideas about how technology is transforming media, education, and governance. Plus, cool stuff I find on Twitter. Click here to subscribe.