Why The Digital Age Is Creating A Stronger Sense Of Community

Garth Beyer

Getting things for free feels so good. Getting things for free when you know you shouldn’t – that feels even better.

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Everything that this digital age is producing – whether it be ads, shifts in cultural norms, or tangible products – the result is the same: a stronger sense of community.

(unrelated to digital age) You go to your favorite local coffee shop and since you bought one Turtle Mocha, you get a second one to go for free. Compare this to going to a local coffee shop and buying one Turtle Mocha, but when you pick it up, the barista gives you a second one to go “on the house.”

(related to the digital age) You get one month of Netflix free, after that one month you have to pay. Compare this to getting one month of Netflix free, and after that one month, you get the username and password of your girlfriends’ parents account.

In the coffee shop scenario, getting something free when you shouldn’t have established a connection between you and the barista (effectively the coffee shop too). In the Netflix scenario, you’ve reaffirmed the connection between you and your girlfriends’ parents (obviously a win-win).

This effect is one of the single most important reasons why I love advertising in the digital age. No matter the success or failure of ads, they always leave a stronger sense of community.

Either you buy into the brand and become part of that brands community (coffee deal drinkers or addicted Netflix supporters) or you find a way to get something free when normally you shouldn’t – be it through pre-existing connections (step-brother, in-laws, etc,) or through making new connections (class mates, coworkers, etc,).

The end result is the same: stronger sense of community.

 

Stay Positive & There’s A Reason It’s Called The Connection Economy

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit

Here’s a bonus read. Enjoy.

 

A Brief About Banksy

Garth Beyer

Nothing is so current as something that is ongoing. untitled

Elusive graffiti artist Banksy is on his final two weeks of his month-long residency in New York.

So far he has defaced property expressed himself through spray paint art, created a fibreglass replica of Ronald McDonald having his shoes shined by a real live boy, made people question the worth of his art (art is war on the human brain), and most recently made a 1/36 scale replica of the great Sphinx of Giza from smashed cinderblocks.

Reporters have tried to get the whole scoop on Banksy, but as one informat said in an email to a reporter , “they don’t call him BANKsy for nothing.”

The most we have heard from Banksy (in addition to his daily updates on his website) is that Village Voice had an exclusive interview with him.

I love the Bloomberg-Banksy talk.

I love even more how much people prize his work. So much that they will bar it up.

In the end, nothing tops the fact that Banksy set up an impromptu stand on the streets of NYC to sell his authentic art for $60 a piece and only managed to sell eight pieces. Then, less than a week later, artists Dave Cicirelli and Lance Pilgrim mimicked the exact tactic and stand set-up with a twist – they marked the art as fake and even provided Certificate of Inauthenticity with each purchase.

The stand sold out in less than an hour.

Think Of The Outside Of Your Box

Garth Beyer

Literally, the outside of it.

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You can think outside of the box, but what you think of is often take back and put inside your box. We only ever venture out of our box to gain insight and ideas to bring back and experiment with. All the while, we neglect the outside of our box.

All companies are fighting to put the best tasting most oddball cereal inside their box, but what still matters the most is what is on the outside of the box.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Forget To Decorate

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit and a short read on how cereal transformed america

Are You Ready?

Garth Beyer

You can’t get stuck on this. You can’t wait until you are. You can’t rationalize your way through it.

Truthfully, you’re better off not being ready and moving forward anyway.

Plus, often the best things in life we are never ready for. Why wait until we are?

 

Stay Positive & You’re Not Supposed To Answer That Question

Garth E. Beyer

Is It This Or Is It That

Garth Beyer

Hanksy

It’s frustrating that everyone wants to categorize, compartmentalize, and label everything that enters their life. It seems as though our brain was designed as a sorting structure. I can just picture little minions analyzing each thought and deciding what folder to place it in. That may be how it works, but that’s not how we grow.

Reading up on street fartist, Hanksy, I came across this interview gem.

EA:  Speaking of serious, it seems like the moment you try and talk about art that is on the streets, you immediately run into these competing definitions—street art vs. tags vs. graffiti. Do you think the insistence on different categories has a place in the conversation about art, or is that boring?

Hanksy:  You run into all the time. It’s frustrating. It’s like asking “What is art? What isn’t art?” I feel like the terms mean different things to different people. One person’s vandalism can be seen as another’s artistic expression. It is what it is. The internet, and people in general, will always attempt to lump things into categories. And they’ll always argue over it. When I first moved NYC, I’d go on these long runs, all throughout lower Manhattan. And I’d see Muffin Milk everywhere. Different versions. And I’m like, “Wow this guy sure loves cursive.” Turns out it’s a t-shirt company or something. Is that street art? I considered it to be, despite the end goal of selling merchandise.

It’s one thing to be objective, it’s another to be subjective. But that categorization of either is exactly my point. Everyone has their own view. We grow by understanding how others categorize and label their experiences, not by doing so to ourselves.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Just Read, Read Others

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit

As promised from yesterday, here are five new sources I read from.

TED talks are lying to you – I don’t usually read Salon, but this was cool.

Arts & Letters Daily – always a good place to find variety

Dreamscape – images and music speak as loud, if not louder than words

It’s Nice That – it’s nice that this is so nice…just awesome

Neotorama – nothing more than neat stuff (not really something to read, but a swell way to break between reads)

Bonus: Here’s a test to discover if someone sees your point of view (HT to David Pink.)

The Routine We Often Forget To Break

Garth Beyer

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Just as what we eat influences the way we appear and feel, so it is with what we read.

I’ve read stories from the same 10 sources every day for the last six months. My brain is on autoconsumption. I’ve read enough from these authors that I can guess where they will go with their story after reading the first few lines.

As anything goes in life, you have to remember to shake things up.

This is a challenge to both you and me. We can do better if we broaden our informational horizons. At the end of my story tomorrow, I will post five different blogs/news sources that I’ve checked out. I encourage you to do the same by posting what you find in a comment to this or tomorrow’s post.

 

Stay Positive & Explore, Taste Something New

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit click the photo to read other stories I've written