Brandon Stanton is the founder of Humans of New York. He’s all over my IG feed. Great stuff.
His idea was unbelievably simple: Take pictures of people and ask them what they’re doing.
Take a look and be amazed at how interesting people are.
Speaking to a class at Columbia University, he mentioned how, thanks to social media and blogs like his, we see so much more that the narrow narrative the traditional news media brings us.
What does legacy media show viewers of, oh, a San Francisco gay pride parade? Naked dudes, guys with pink feather boas and dudes with leather chaps? Yes.
What was really happening at that parade? There were well-dressed professionals, children, straight allies, firefighters and cops. Yes, there were ALSO fabulous faux femme fatales and Dykes on Bikes. The whole picture is far shocking than the narrow one.
Now you know why Gen Z’s and young Millennials largely reject traditional media. They know what they’re seeing is not the whole story. The reporters on the ground – the folks they follow – are showing it all.
Social media competes well with television because you get to see the whole picture, from many points of view. The person who placed the pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC headquarters on January 6? They will be caught, because the crowd online is going to fix it with the FBI.
When you are searching for your next job or new career, you have to see the entire game board as well. What’s happening in one part of an industry or one office in a company is not what’s really happening.
This amazing scene from the political drama The West Wing explains this beautifully.
See the whole board. Now you’re playing like a winner.
John can help you see the whole board. Contact him here.
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