I am a little over the rants about artists having their digital content “stolen” from them. I pretty much agree with what they are saying, but it just doesn’t do anything. That is why I think it is time to talk about the other side of the process. Not the artist whining talking about themselves, but you. This is all about you. This is for the spectators, the consumers, the voyeurs… This is about you using this content and destroying the future’s. If you want the Internet to become a place with rubble everywhere except a few historical buildings, then you are doing it right.
If you haven’t noticed this lately about the Internet, it is that it is becoming more commercial. More mainstream. More mono. The big old companies are learning how to use it and with their deep pockets, they have little problem shoving content in your face. Especially the content that is flashing and dancing while you are trying to look at something else. You know that video that pops up when you enter a site and then you have to click on the little x, but then the x dances around and you now have to close the new window that just opened wasting some bandwidth that another huge company is charging you for to fill their deep pockets.
I just explained it all to you right there. You are paying for content you don’t want. You may be ‘stealing’ a few pennies here and there from people who create the content you love, but also you are paying out your well earned money to the people who create the content you don’t give a shit about.
If the creators of the content cannot buy food or pay their rent, they probably will stop posting content that you would love.
Now, I know you would love to use the excuse that even if one stops posting, there are many others. Well, let me tell you this, there is a lot of fucking water in the world, but some places run out of it. You can taint that water and make it unusable and it is a resource that seems endless. There are many people in the world and many would love to get their creations out to the world, but don’t expect great results for long while tainting the barrel.
This is for those kids who were born and the Internet was already a thing. Let me tell you, I am 31 and have been on the Internet half my life. The Internet 5 years ago is nothing like the Internet today. The Internet 10 years ago would blow your mind. And the Internet 15 years ago will make your brain go to mush… and this is exactly where the Internet is headed with your help.
See, 15 years ago there was this Internet company that was much like ABC or NBC or CBS on TV, if like in the past there were only those channels. I know this too may be hard to think about, but imagine if you only had 30 channels of TV to choose from. Now, imagine there are only 3. This can be your Internet of the future. [I mostly, do not think this will happen, because you aren’t that stupid. It may take you some time, but you will realize that this whole FREE* content thing isn’t real and you are shitting out your mouth.]
I know you are probably thinking that this is not what is happening. That the Internet is opening all these new channels. That publishing content is so easy that anyone can do it. Your Tumblr page is your own little channel that you select such beautiful content, that your friends and people you don’t know think you have such good taste. Well let me give you a warning. If you keep playing this game, your shit will start to stink and then it will dry up and what are you going to do with that shriveled up shit?
This is probably the most important part! Here is the thing about publishers (which is what you are, congratulations!), they want to keep good rapport (it is a big word for ah whatever, this is the Internet, they answer is so easy to get!) with their creators. Why? They want their creators to keep on creating, so they can keep on publishing.
Now, if you don’t have good rapport and your creators stop creating you will be able to play around with all that content which has been made and published in magazines and posted to the Internet. However, once it is has made its rounds through the Internet a few times like the old tourist traps you visit in a city, you are left with a stale shit (note: there are exceptions to things that are beautiful and can be admired many times, however you may notice these to become overcrowded and then those damn people selling shit start blocking the view).
What you are missing out on is the content you don’t even know you want to publish. Your viewers would be shitting themselves instantly if they knew what you could post this shit. No, I am not talking about that shit you saw that a year ago which may be mildly interesting this time around. I am talking about the stuff in the future, the stuff you cannot even smell yet, because that shit is fresh.
You are holding yourself back from this fresh shit and you are shoving that old piece of shit back up your ass and pooping it out and showing it to everyone to make them think you are so interesting (hopefully, you aren’t swallowing it and hoping to create something new out of that shit, because that will kill you [although, I don’t know what would happen if you enema yourself with a dried up piece of pooh…]).
Stop trying to rehydrate those old pieces of shit. Just feed one of the creators you love, so they can create something that is going to make you and everyone you show drool. That thing is going to be the freshest and juiciest and most beautiful shit that you have ever seen.