We are what we click.

I watched a TEDx talk a few months ago given by Sally Kohn, “Don’t like clickbait? Don’t click.” Sally is a lawyer, political commentator, and CEO of Movement Vision Lab, a grassroots think tank.

In this short conversation she makes some big points that I continue to think about. In this age we’re no longer just the consumers of media, we are the media. Everything we post online, our blogs, our tweets, our comments and everything we click is a public act of making media.

It isn’t like the old days, the one to the many, where newspapers, magazines, television, radio, movies all produced product and we the audience consumed it. Clicking is a public act. It’s no longer true that we are just the passive receivers. Increasingly through our participation online we are all part of the media landscape.

So I’m home, in my jammies, browsing the web. I stop by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus, “That’s private, right?” “I’m just consuming media right?” Wrong! I didn’t need to “post” anything. Every photo I looked at, every video I watched, every comment, click, plus, favorite and like, is public.

We are the new editors of media, our actions dictate what gets attention (or doesn’t) based on our actions. The new algorithms are designed to see what we see and they understand us through our behavior. Where’d we go? What did we click? Did we comment? This now has everything to do with what we all see online.

So if you’re tired of politicians facing off in a diatribe with each other. Don’t click. If you’re tired of seeing that Entertainment Industry gossip or another Kardashian boob. If it's hateful, derogatory, or disgusting. Don't click. Positive or Negative, if you click you promote.

As Sally puts it best... “Clicking on a train wreck just pours gasoline on it. It just makes it worse, the fire spreads, our whole culture gets burned.”

“If what gets the most clicks wins, then we have to start shaping the world we want with our clicks. Because clicking is a public act. So click responsibly.”

P.S. The context I keep foremost online is simple. You’re in public. Take the high road, contribute, act with good social graces and intention. We are what we click.