texburgher: Creative Output Nothing new here. Vermeer was all but unknown for 200 years, and Van Gogh: ignored to death. By comparison, Norman Rockwell and Thomas Kinkade became household names- each early in his life. The history of the arts abounds with such examples. (Who here watches Jenny Saville, Tai-Shan Schierenberg, Ann Gale, David Kassan?) Not to say there aren’t exceptions - there are, but they live in that sliver of overlap. We like to think of social media as efficiently exposing previously or otherwise hidden talent, but I think something quite opposite is going on. Thanks to social media, the circle on the right seems to grow exponentially year-over-year, while the circle on the left, at best, resists shrinking. Internet! I think you can expand this beyond just creative output to include politicians.

texburgher:

Creative Output

Nothing new here. Vermeer was all but unknown for 200 years, and Van Gogh: ignored to death. By comparison, Norman Rockwell and Thomas Kinkade became household names- each early in his life. The history of the arts abounds with such examples. (Who here watches Jenny Saville, Tai-Shan Schierenberg, Ann Gale, David Kassan?) Not to say there aren’t exceptions - there are, but they live in that sliver of overlap.

We like to think of social media as efficiently exposing previously or otherwise hidden talent, but I think something quite opposite is going on. Thanks to social media, the circle on the right seems to grow exponentially year-over-year, while the circle on the left, at best, resists shrinking.

Internet!

I think you can expand this beyond just creative output to include politicians.