Getting to the Next Level
Originality, Visibility and Recognition
Originality is a prime theme in all or most creative pursuits. I personally believe that originality is a misused term since new ideas are almost always based on some previously expressed thought or developed process. In most cases what’s deemed original is really just an adjunct to something already in play, like adding a novel feature to improve usefulness, or retrofitting some thing for a new purpose. However, for the sake of this topic let’s describe the idea of originality as the expression of exhibiting something interestingly new and unique.
My goal here is to put the idea of originality into context when related to visibility and recognition. In the sea of words, themes, and ideas floating throughout social media’s vast and expanding networks, the search for original ideas, works and concepts is a highly desirable pursuit. Yet the construct of originality is actually driven by visibility and recognition.
The more visible or recognizable an individual or entity is, the more likely their respective contributions will be viewed as original. In other words, visibility and recognition provide the buoyancy for any idea or work to be noticed and reviewed for its ‘originality quotient’. This understanding in and of itself is not original and is pretty much a given in all sectors of…
