Original Thought

As our online existence continues to mature what we share with each other seems to be changing. Maybe it's just my online experience but I have noticed that a lot of what is being directed toward me from people I stay in contact with is not original.

I'm not saying there is not a lot of original content on the Internet. People are making new stuff everyday. However, it seems that my News Feed on Facebook and my Twitter feed has a lot of reposted material. A lot of it is pictures of cats, other posts have witty slogans or attempts to explain what some perceive as stupidity in the world. Some of it funny, some of it is insightful, a lot of it is lame.

I do repost things from time to time. Often it's a link to a news story I come across. It may not be important news but it is interesting to me. Back in the 90's people used to fax jokes around, as that decade wound up and email became more commonplace, much of the humor was send over the Internet. It seems the medium has moved to social media.

One of the revolutions of social media was that anyone could say what they wanted to everyone or to a controlled audience. It was easier than ever before to express yourself. It seems that for a lot of people it has become an easier way to share someone else's ideas or creations.

There are two reasons I can think of why my newsfeed is full of recycled material. They are not mutually exclusive and may both have some impact on why people post what they post.

Most people are not very creative. It may be because we live busy lives or we just can't seem to express our thoughts but most people are just not very original. They find it a lot easier to express how they are feeling or try to make you laugh with someone else's content. It is more convenient, you can't deny that. There are people who seem to have a lot of time on their hands and I'm sure they produce their share of bad content but if you make enough, you will have some good ones.

People don't want to be to honest online. If you repost someone else's content, it's their idea and you didn't say it if there is backlash. You can say how you feel but you have a veil of protection. You don't put yourself all the way out there. It feels safer.

I have no problem with people reporting others content. Some of it is really good and makes me laugh. That being said people should have the courage to put some of their own ideas out there. Let's be honest, we can only look at so many pictures of cats acting like people.