How To Split An Atom

Strange place isn’t it? (Read this first for context)

The Internet is the only place short of Hollywood where your average person can become loved or hated by tens of thousands of people without ever having to put on pants.

Want to be Bill Gates? Mark Zuckerberg? Steve Jobs? [1]

Lots of us do, few of us will. It’s a “power law” problem and we’re on the losing end of it.

Why?

Well, there is a lot of junk on the web. I don’t care if you are looking for design tips, entrepreneurial advice or a guide to search engine optimization — 90% of what you read here or anywhere else isn’t going to help you in the “infomercial testimonial” sense of the word.

Most of what passes for practical advice would, in any other circle, go by a different name — contrived. Maybe it’s just a pretense of someone who sees the world in terms of solder points but I know deep down that I am not helping you when I give you Top Blah Ways to Do Blah when 7 of the 10 items are copies of copies of copies of concepts that you first read six years ago in an email. [2]

The advice you’re looking for, the articles you need are the ones that answer “how” and “why.” My list of marketing tips is only as good as its ability to change the way you market your product. My review of web application X is only as important as the reasons why I picked it over the twenty other identical products sitting in my “Read Later” folder.

Anything you read online is only as valuable as the degree it changes you, makes you think or gives you another line item on your todo list. It’s the fast food theory of content production — that double cheeseburger might be tasty and easy to buy but no matter how hard it tries it will never inspire anyone to do anything other than diet.

We try our best to be useful, mind you, but the Internet is a terrible medium to “teach.” We have floods of information that we try to make sense of without context, without continuity and worse without any real arc. There is no story to tie it all together and the result is intellectual ADD. We become a society of title readers and list lovers. [3]

What is the web good for then? Fortunately, it’s is a really great place to discover people who might have knowledge worth tracking them down to learn more about. I like to think I fall into that category on my good days, and I can point someone in the direction of those who do even on my worst.

Then what of the blog post, the visual resume of this web of ours? I’d break blog posts down into four categories:

• Useless truth - Also known as applied common sense.

• Useful Lies - Pay attention to what’s not being said because that’s where the author makes his consulting fees.

• Hype - Same old story, same old spin.

• Gems - That rare 10% that makes the entire shebang worthwhile.

Take, for instance, my polemic on What Really Kills Startups.

It’s a great title and a Useless Truth. I go on about how Teamwork is important to startups and how lack of it can destroy you but I never explain how or why. Everyone loses in the bargain, I lose the opportunity to make a really valuable point and you’re left holding the bag with a “truth” you can’t apply. [4]

The Useful Lies are the teaser trailers of web content. They are articles designed to get you to buy into the author’s work (consulting, web design, etc . . .). In product design Useful Lies can be replaced by coupons and free trials, the point is to get you in the door. There is nothing wrong with this, in fact, it is probably one of the best ways you’re going to turn your netlebrity into a way to support your brood but as an information consumer I’d say Buyer Beware.

Hype is the majority what you read about products on the web. When products actually cost money to make typically the number of “big new things” coming out in a calendar year would be in the low double digits. Since everything we want to produce on the web is free, that has opened up the opportunity for dozens of “game changers” to come out every day. Combine that with unwavering publishing cycles and you have the 24 Hour News Effect, everyone is making marginally informed bets that their pet project will make it big, and everyone who trusts them follows along calm as Hindu cows.

As for the gems, I’ll collect a list of my favorite posts and get them to you when it’s ready. Until then, take some time to check out today’s show notes. [5]

I bet you’re wondering where the practical advice I have been going on about all this post will come in. I decided to add some footnotes that should fill in the gaps.

1. Find five content producers you like in tech, follow them closely for a month — take a look at how they interact on their sites and in their social networks. Take notes. By the end of the adventure you’ll probably know enough about using the web to be a competent “Social Media Consultant”

2. Write a list of things you want to say about a subject and subtract everything you’ve read before. If your list is empty, you don’t know enough about the subject to be writing about it and that’s OK. Anything that is still left is the value to have to add.

3. Don’t let yourself be lazy. It is better that you not publish/produce anything than waste your audiences time with drivel. Sweat a little over what you produce — ask yourself whether you would read the entire thing, if the answer is no then be brave enough to change or delete it outright.

4. You can find the rest of my thoughts on teamwork here.

5. Despite what you might think, I don’t have a real problem with any of these four things existing. It’s impossible to only write “great stuff,” sometimes posts and projects will slip through the cracks. It isn’t that you need to be perfect, it’s just that you should always be trying to make your average better and to produce content that will drive it up.

Bonus. Learn to appreciate Points of Pain. Points of Pain are statements like, “I wish I could make calls without having to find a phone booth.” or “Wouldn’t it be great if I could get an encyclopedia online, for free?” or even, “I think pictures of cats are hilarious . . .” Products that answer clear Points of Pain succeed, those that don’t have to spend time creating new pain points in the minds of their users. If there is money sitting on the Internet’s coffee table it all belongs to those who are good at identifying new pain points.

Onto Episode Three: Culture Shock

(Images) (Season One)