The Importance of Truth in Advertising

Why “Big Data” and Truth in Messaging is Happening at the Same Time

“Stories change at the speed of culture.” This is a popular statement said first by one of my creative friends who works at facebook. Never before has there been a time that we can’t catch up with ourselves. Now, instead, everything is happening at one time and the way we we look at culture has changed from an extrapolation to a constant feed of what’s new and happening in the moment. We can foresee trends by studying twitter feeds and we can see worldly events on our phone screens every moment they happen.

Consider this: Your personality and your life and your memories and everything you’ve done up until this point are your past. Your Past is what has shaped you up until this point and it’s filled with assumptions you’ve made and things you’ve learned and people you’ve talked to. In this way, you feel connected to that past.

Now Consider this: If you were born today, your past would still be present. Your past will continue to be present as you move through life because it’s ALL BEING RECORDED. Facebook and Twitter, to a lesser extent, allow us to keep track of what’s happening and what’s been happening, so we never really lose sight of things. But….does that mean we won’t gain perspective either?

Considering the way that memory works — if your brain is refreshed with an idea you’ve had, you’ll keep it in mind and if it’s not refreshed, you’ll forget. If you’re constantly reminded of things you’ve done, mistakes you’ve made (and posted on facebook), then the perceptive you have will always remain constant. You’ll no longer have to assume or “solve for” the parts of your past that your brain has left out.

The same works for the global culture. Before the age of hyper-sharing, there were key things that happened on a large scale, that the whole world learned about, together. Since there is so much access to information currently, culture forms quickly and in small, concentrated segments that small groups of people are sharing. The larger connection to past events that we shared globally don’t have as much meaning to us now that we can see and feel and participate in every global movement happening now, whether on a small or large scale.

Truth is more important than ever. Sharing stories are what makes us feel closer, and trust each other. Perception of truth is the basis of culture, and what will continue to effect our collective understanding of Everything.