Just Throw It Up On the Website

The internet is not the slap-dash place many people think. That phrase, "hey, just throw it up on the website," reveals both a lack of understanding and a lack of respect for everything digital.

Does it require a dark room filled with D-76 and RapidFixer to get photos on-line? No. A 16mm fill developing machine and a CineView to cut moving pictures? No. A reel-to-reel recorder for audio? No.

Just because the labor-intensive means of message production are behind us does not mean that creating on-line content is simple.

Because you can post a photo within a minute or so does not mean it took considerable time to arrange and present that image.

In fact, the quality of the on-line presentation has a direct proportion to the number of people and the time spent in planning.

Streaming media is another one of those vastly understood enterprises. Just because one guy with a camera can stream an event doesn't mean it will be of the quality that brand representation deserves.

The lack of respect part on "throwing it up" reflects a total inability to realize that the seemingly ephemeral website is as permanent in this digital world as a high-gloss four-color printed publication.

When you "throw it up," that's exactly what it often looks like -- puke.

I'd be interested in feed back from other digital professionals.