Simpson's Did It
Someone may have already had the same idea you’ve had, but we still need your version.
In 2002, South Park aired an episode called Simpson’s Already Did It, with this melodically repetitive refrain of “Simpson’s Did It” every time someone on the show suggested an idea. It was a reflection of how the South Park creators felt trying to make a unique animated series in the wake of the longest-running sitcom of all time.
As digital content creators, I think this is how the internet felt for a long time.
The internet flattened the world. All of a sudden, there were more content creators than ever, and you could see all of them all of the time. Additionally, everything lived forever in the digital archives. And so it felt nearly impossible to create anything original. Whatever your new idea was, someone had already done it.
But 21 years after that South Park episode aired, the internet feels like a different place. I now see the same ideas posted and reposted ad nauseam from all kinds of various sources.
What happened?
It would be too simple to say, TikTok. But, TikTok has played a huge role in making it not only acceptable but ENCOURAGED to copy someone or everyone else on the platform by using the latest trending sound.
I think this works for two main reasons:
1. Your followers live in their own siloed digital world and it’s likely they haven’t seen the thing you’re about to copy.
2. Even if they have, they haven’t seen it from your unique perspective and with your spin. You have something of value to add to it.
Before the internet, educators existed in bubbles. We needed thousands of teachers all over the world, each in their own local communities. In most cases what they taught was not original, but it was unique in the sense that they put their own personal and geographic spin on the information. This was well and good.
We’re now back to that kind of existence in a digital sense. We’re existing in our bubbles, and needing more educators who can take the core information and distill it through their personal and cultural filters to make it more applicable to the tribe.
I’m not encouraging plagiarizing. That still sucks and always will. What I am saying is that if you’re making stuff to put on the internet, stop worrying so much about whether it’s NEW or not.
Someone may have already had the same idea you’ve had, but we still need your version.