Re:Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?
by abnercoimbre on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @07:05PM
(#29007515)
> The only way to escape that cycle is to be a creator (with yourself as an audience of one).
Sorry I must've misunderstood: is it a requirement that the audience is an audience of one?
Re:Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?
by sixstringtheory on Wednesday October 27, 2021 @04:01AM
(#29010669)
I’ve often thought that some of my favorite artists were completely self indulgent: only making what they thought would be interesting, without caring what other people would think of it. In that way, they only had themselves as their audience of one.
That may not be a sufficient condition for success or innovation, but I think it’s a necessary one.
Re:Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?
by dwd on Wednesday October 27, 2021 @12:28AM
(#29009550)
It can play out in different ways: creating software to scratch your own itch; writing a book to explore a concept that interests you (Tolkien and language is a good example); playing music that you like (and maybe only you will like; drawing, sculpting, painting what interests you.
The idea is that your target audience is yourself and no one else, therefore an audience of one.
It is a high bar to produce something truly innovative and different, and not just the same old with a shinier interface. Same goes for all the creative arts: television, music, movies, art, etc. You always come up against the law of diminishing marginal utility so very little ever feels as good as it was to begin with.
Do you have a favourite band but now only ever really listen to their first few albums? Do the majority of movie releases basically not excite you? Can you really be bothered to watch season n of some show you enjoyed initially?
The only way to escape that cycle is to be a creator (with yourself as an audience of one).