I remember when CNN debuted. I thought it would never work. Most news is boring. Boy was I wrong. It worked, because in addition to covering the news, they talked about it. And that begat other channels who covered the same news, and they too talked about it. And suddenly the airwaves were filled with a cacophony of talking heads giving us their opinions on world events and telling us what the news meant.

Then came the internet and it became the secret sauce that tied it all together because now every Tom, Dick and Harry could share all these juicy opinions with one another and shoot YouTube, TicToc and Instagram videos and pretend to be news people and serious commentators themselves as if they were all Albert Einstein, William F. Buckley, or Studs Terkel.  And people liked it because there’s nothing like finding someone else who shares your opinion. Positive reinforcement.

And who am I to complain, because without the internet and social media I’d be nowhere. Just a guy sitting at home, bitching to his kids and his friends about the shape the world is in, missing my wife and wondering what the hell I was going to do with the rest of my miserable life. Now, in all that noise, I’ve actually carved out a little audience who likes my writing and on occasion my music. And along the way I’ve learned a little bit about dealing with the digital manipulators. So, maybe there’s hope for all of us.