Abigail Posner, Google: Why Social Networks Are Making Us More Creative

Speaking at PSFK CONFERENCE 2013, Abigail Posner, Head Of Strategic Planning for Agency Development at Google, discussed how rather than serving as a mere distraction, the vast visual web is making us happier, more creative, more connected and ultimately more fulfilled. In the last year, we collectively took 380 billion photographs, every day there are 400 billion views on Youtube, and on Facebook alone, users watch 500 years worth of video per day. What Posner questions is whether this content amounts to merely a two minute distraction, or if it reveals a deeper meaning.

Taking a closer look at what type of content users are actually sharing on their social feeds, it is overwhelmingly filled with the everyday and mundane, rather than great works or masterpieces of history. However, Posner posits that this so called mundane content offers a new perspective to view our everyday lives. Since the beginning of time, great thinkers have sought to answer the question of is there more to life? The visual web effectively lets us see our world for the first time again with new eyes, making the familiar fascinating and elevating our everyday experiences.

As Posner says, when this content is shared, we feel the passion of the creator, which in turn sparks our own creativity. The visual web reminds us that we can leave a mark, and that our own ideas matter in a meaningful way.

Google

Image Credit – Catalina Kulczar