The Internet is Big and It Basically Wants to Kill You

Part 2 in a series of posts that share the stories behind each piece of Hugh MacLeod's (@gapingvoid) art from the #WTF gallery, "17 Cartoons That Will Change Your Business." I hope you are inspired by Hugh's work the same way I am. Cheers!

Cartoon 2:
The Internet is Big and It Basically Wants to Kill You

The internet is a global system of interconnected computer systems blah blah blah...Basically, it's big and it offers little room for you to stand above the fray. Yet, by it's very nature, information washes over you every day shallowing our attention spans and restricting our ability to earn meaningful attention or find solace. Yes, it can be scary. Often, it's overwhelming. Information overload is drowning people in information, mostly useless, but sometime entertaining drivel. Connectedness and our always-on society is pushing us to share and consume more online and even has us considering digital detox.

Here, WWW stands World Wide Web. Type. Swipe. Pinch and zoom. Connect. Consume. Communicate!

But wait, what about me? Where do I fit in to all of this? How do I gain trust, build relationships, make a name for myself and become part of a significant community online?

Yell?

Jump up and down?

Beg for attention?

Spend more money!?

In the real world, the Internet offers an unprecedented opportunity to create and instill value. People become the nodes of the network and relationships are the links that connect us. Here, WWW symbolizes 3 important questions we need to ask and answer to create value, to learn, and to care, "Who? Where? Why?"

Information overload is a choice. Instead of becoming part of the problem, we need to become part of the solution.

We're really good at talking. We're especially good at talking about ourselves. I'm not so sure we're that good at listening. Take a moment today to watch a conversation from a distance. Observe what happens when one person talks...what is the other person's facial expression? What are their mannerisms. You may just notice that often, people are ready to respond before the person talking has finished.

Perhaps we hear them, but we're not really listening. Maybe we pay attention as a way of forming or aligning our thoughts to respond to what someone is saying rather than grasp what they're truly expressing to us.

Listening isn't just about hearing what someone has to say, it's about making them feel that you not only heard them but also empathize with them.

"The art of listening is not to hear what someone says but to hear how they feel."
- Bob Chapman

The way I look at the Internet and the mobile, social, and app economies, is simply as a collective of people, data, and things. Understand that it is what it is. But its true nature and potential are yours to define. How you communicate, how you listen, and how you participate are measured in relationships and the shared expressions of others. As Jeff Bezos once said, "Your brand is what someone says when you're not in the room."

To succeed in the new WWW (Who, What, Where), just takes mastery of what I call the “5I’s”. It starts with the intent to listen, not just the intent to talk.

1. Squeeze intelligence out of information.
2. Translate insights into ideas.
3. Enliven new ideas as a result of your research.
4. Become part of the community by listening and empathizing through meaningful interactions.
5. Influence desired behavior or inspire new possibilities from an informed approach.

(To download this and other art for free use please CLICK HERE. GapingVoid asks for an email address, just once, to receive additional artwork over time.)