As a writer, and someone who has been a writer my entire life — both in the offline and online space – the concept of the ‘ease at which content can be developed and published’ is troubling. Not everyone is a writer, just as not everyone is a chef or an educator or a doctor or lawyer. And yet, the web provides the instant gratification without the proper vetting, so anyone can put anything up and anytime and as you say, walk away. But does that make it valid, credible or free for the taking to all that surf by?

No to the first two points, yes to the third.

That’s my point.

Stu writes about the fact that perhaps content creation is somehow tied to achieving “fame” (“I’m a legend in my own mind,” comes to mind here.) Again, instant gratification. I may be old school but I believe that one of the most important lessons that we can learn is that content needs to be respected whether it is off or online, that content and quality do not automatically overlap and that the rules remain the same even if the lines become blurred in the interactive space.

I think an issue that everyone who creates content on the web has to deal with is .. Fame.

All the Services springing up allow people to get some notoriety simply by being a good _conduit_.

Being a conduit is viable, and requires skill. To be good, ha.

Anyway, the point. Fame is, I think, a big factor in the blurring of the lines between Creator and Content. We want to get a name, or have Scoble link to us, so we write posts about what he likes. Or what everyone is talking about. Like the crazy amount of political “insight” going on FriendFeed and Twitter at the moment. Or posts about Chrome.

Creating good Content sometimes means writing about what people are talking about. Especially if you are interested in it. But it’s more than this. It’s about creating with the vision that YOU have.

Speaking from experience. I’ve gone down a lot of different creation tangents in my life, and in my time on the web. Writing Stories, Kids Telly Shows, Software Blogs, Gary Vee style videos .. And am not at all well-known.

Sure, sometimes my content isn’t crash hot. But despite not getting thousands of people to wait with bated breath for my next post, I’m still creating the way I always have.

Anyway. Sorry. Got sidetracked there.

Fame vs. Contentment maybe?