What do Wonder bread, Robert Downey Jr. and Celtic monks have in common?
They’re all part of a talk that Tim Meaney and I are giving at SXSW Interactive: The Revenge of Editorials. It’s scheduled for Friday, May 12 at 5pm. You can find all the details on the SXSW site.
We’re a Web shop, so it sort of goes without saying that we love the Web and we believe in the power of the Web. While the Web is borne out of technology, it is – in so many ways – a product of humans. It’s got it all. Intellectual discourse and low-brow ramblings. Pornography and pornography addiction support groups. We play games, do business, meet people, make friends and (virtually) kill enemies.
That said, many people don’t think very much of the Web. The constant buzz. The noisy layouts. The general lack of care into so much of what’s produced. It’s a messy place.
One of our biggest fears, and a key motivator for this talk, is that this frustration will lead people to move away from the Web. These other "places" (whether an App Store or some new-fangled digital magazine) are inviting, but they run counter to what’s made the Web so captivating today.
Our talk will focus on elevating experiences on the Web, rather than bussing people off to some sanitized "other place." We’ll view the Web through the lens of history and look ahead to how we – as content creators, designers and technologists – can do a better job of elevating the Web.
We know the Web will always have its darker corners. We just need to make sure that we create great new experiences inside the Web.
We hope you can join us. It’ll be Arc90’s first showing at SXSW and we’re really excited to be there. Our talk is part of a series on content strategy.
