Blink. Blink. Blink. Miss a decade a.k.a. “Why I am breaking up with marketing”.
I’ve been staring at a blinking cursor, on this neglected Medium account, for about 15 minutes. It’s not the first time it’s happened, and not the first time I have tried to write this story. In fact, it’s been brewing for about 9 months. It’s still brewing, really.
Each time I have tried to write about it, though, it’s the same blinking cursor.
Why am I breaking up with marketing?
Where do I even begin?
Ironically, it starts with that blinking cursor paralysis.
Because I never used to have that problem.
Back in the olden days (known as the 90s and 00s), I was a prolific and talented writer. I’d write a blog post daily, effortlessly. I was funny, candid, and shared stories and snippets and thought experiments when few were. Admittedly, I shared more than I should have (and I was groan-worthily precocious in my twenties). I would write about politics, motherhood, digital technologies, design, music, relationships, business. Basically, whatever I wanted to write about, because I was Téa, a person — not a product.
It’s hard to imagine it, but the internet was once a place where conversations were fun, rather than tedious. Where keeping stats on your blog was lame, and bragging about them to anyone made you a wanker. We built our audiences based on the strength of our ideas and our willingness to collaborate with others — not…