The Good Old Days

Do you sit around reminiscing about the "good old days"?

As much fun as that may sound, I personally always held a high level of contempt for those who spent a lot of time living in their past. The kind of people who live in the past seemed, somewhat, weak to me. A lot of that thinking was formulated from reading and listening to Dan Sullivan (though I never took Sullivan’s, The Strategic Coach, program I did listen to many of his audio programs and read his books). Most of the successful people we know don’t live in the past, in fact the majority of them believe that the best is yet to come and spend the majority of their energy looking forward and creating their future.

Social Media and Digital Marketing helps you stay in the present (and looking towards the future).

It’s one of the main reasons I love what I do. Being a professional marketer with a focus on the Digital Marketing channels, leaves little time to look back as everything we’re creating at Twist Image for brands is based firmly in the present – with an eye towards the future. That being said, it’s easy to reminisce about the good old days of Social Media.

Remember when Blogging was Blogging?

Remember when a Blog was an online journal? A true online personal canvas of someone’s life in words. A digital diary that everyone was allowed and welcome to creep on. The early days of Blogging were so innocent and beautiful. Individuals would frequently share everything (down to the sordid details). It was a time when spelling and grammar didn’t even rate as an important component of a Blog. It was a time when you could dump on a brand – not to have an outcome solved, but simply as a written gasket to relieve some pressure (and you didn’t get into trouble or lose your job for saying so). Back then, individuals didn’t Blog for comments, linkbait or Twitter retweets. They didn’t Blog to build more fans on a Facebook page and they didn’t Blog to watch their web analytics grow. Most people who started Blogging, did so with the simple intent to share their thoughts in hopes that they might connect with others who either agreed or wanted to engage in some form of written discourse.

Blogging is now publishing.

That’s not really true. Blogging was always publishing, it was just another kind of publishing. These days, Blogging is more like a simple way to publish and broadcast your content. It could be a multi-authored Blog. It might be a news-driven website using a Blogging platform to publish. These days, it’s not uncommon to see entire corporate websites developed on a Blogging platform (look no further than WordPress). It’s amazing (and inspiring) to see – and be a part of – this publishing transition and revolution, but sometimes I do miss the days when Blogging wasn’t like every other kind of publishing and content. The days when it was raw, innocent and real. When it was a lot more like punk rock versus Top 40 music.

Do you miss the good old days?