There was a time when a few editors, producers, and media execs decided which ideas made it into culture. The gatekeepers were the filter.
Now? That filter is gone.
You—yes, you—have the power to publish, promote, and push ideas into the world instantly.
Your TikTok can hit faster than prime-time TV. Your blog post can reach more people than a magazine column in 1993. Your podcast can compete with NPR and Fox News during morning drive. That’s the good news.
The bad news? Means we’re also the ones who are accountable.
Because when your idea spreads—even just a little—you are no longer just a creator.
You’re an architect of culture.
Just Because It Spreads Doesn’t Mean It Serves
Virality is seductive.
That clickbait headline. The rage-fueled tweet. The cleverly packaged nonsense.
These things travel fast—because they’re designed to.
But spreading something is not the same as standing for something.
And as creators, entrepreneurs, and marketers, we have to wrestle with a hard truth:
Every idea you release into the world either elevates the culture or erodes it.
- Are you publishing to provoke thought—or just provoke?
- Are you building momentum—or just manufacturing noise?
If you’ve ever hit ‘send’ on something secretly hoping “it might go viral,” you know the tension.
Culture Is a Petri Dish
Ideas, like bacteria, live in and around the entirety of our culture.
Some ideas heal. Some ideas rot.
And like superbugs, some ideas mutate fast and spread faster—especially in a weakened cultural immune system.
But here’s the part that most people miss:
You don’t need a million followers to make a dent in culture.
An 8-year-old brings a fidget spinner to school at just the right moment—and boom, it spreads.
You tweet something with unexpected resonance—and suddenly it’s everywhere.
The tools are in our hands.
Now the question is: what will we use them for?
Platforms, Patterns, and Power
Every “innocent” UX decision shapes behavior.
- The retweet button fuels pile-ons.
- The like button turns art into popularity contests.
- The email subject line that over-promises to spike the open rate? That’s not clever—it’s corrosive.
As Mark Andreessen said, “Software is eating the world.” But more specifically—it’s shaping the culture.
Every checkbox. Every UI flow. Every influencer incentive.
These are not just product decisions—they’re cultural ones.
And if you’re building media, products, or platforms, you’re participating in that shaping—whether you mean to or not.
Create With Intent
This moment calls for more than just shipping content.
It calls for thoughtful cultural authorship.
That doesn’t mean you have to be serious all the time.
It means you have to be intentional.
Because we’re living in an unprecedented time, and that’s an opportunity–we can use this new environment to our benefit. You don’t need permission to share your idea.
But once you do—you own the ripple effects.
So before you publish, promote, or press send, ask:
- Will this make someone’s day better or just distract?
- Does this build clarity or just clicks?
- Am I elevating conversation—or just adding noise?
The Editor Is Gone. You’re It Now.
We used to ask, “Will this get picked up?”
Now we ask, “Will this go viral?”
Let’s ask something different: Does this make things better?
Because culture isn’t built by media execs anymore. It’s built by us—one post, one product, one piece of content at a time.
And every one of those is a decision.
So here’s your challenge:
Ship something worth sharing—because it helps, not because it hits.
It doesn’t need to go viral to make a difference.
It just needs to go forward, with purpose.
This is the choice of our time.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with someone else–the buttons below can help.
Thank you!
