People with no social authority suddenly gain access to previously inaccessible channels of idea distribution
- Anyone saying anything accessible to anyone. No filter, no editor, not time of reflection.
- People who attempt to transmit the authority of printed text to online print are doomed to waste their time chasing heresies. As a result, they increase the audience of the perceived “heretic”. Page views and inbound links determine authority. Now, more than ever, unless it is someone who already has authority/audience, the best way to avoid increasing authority is to let the author’s post die in obscurity.
- Physical print is imbued with more authority because it takes time to process, time to deliver, and has usually been combed over by the eyes of an editor.
- With the removal of the costs of time, print, paper, and editor, there is little left to restrict anyone from writing and publishing online anything that comes to mind. However, where restrictions are eliminated, a torrent of self-expression follows. In the case of music this has been a boon to artists and has increased the number of quality offerings available. For print, it has also increased the quantity but it has diluted the quality of work in print (online or offline).
