Does the Digital Age Threaten Great Creative Work?

Once again the Christmas season reminded me of the tension going on between snail mail and email. Or should I say, between traditional and digital media? 

One of my business associates made a passing comment a few days ago about getting a lazy man's Christmas card by email. "Why can't people bother to glue a stamp on an envelope to let me know they have at least gone to some effort to let me know they care!"

Just a short time ago, few people used email because they did not have Internet access. Now most every one in the US has at least one email address.

In fact, SMS mobile phone messaging threatens to supplant email and perhaps even voice communication as a primary means of human communications. 

With the lightening speed of new technology adoption comes increasing complexity for not only the marketer but the general population. There are indications that regardless of the generation, there lies a lingering desire for a more personal touch. 

The proliferation of faceless social media outlets leaves users unsatisfied by their lack of depth and genuineness in Twitter-like communications. (See great slide presentation on this issue -- Communication Through Social Media).

If anything threatens the continuing growth of social marketing, perhaps it will ultimately come down to digital overoad, sameness and sterility. 

With so much demand on content for content's sake, the race is on. Emails, SMS messages and the Internet as a whole actually discourage the creation of great copy or the personal feel.

It helps to have a few minutes to think about the message and create compelling copy!

People everywhere still need time to meditate, read poetry and digest a great book. In fact, the best copywriting in the communications industry still comes from broadcast, direct mail and print advertising.

I think that the higher production costs associated with traditional media make it necessary for advertisers to put their best foot forward.

Digital media, on the other hand, is cheap to distribute and even cheaper to produce when compared to traditional media. The overwhelming low-quality volume coming out of the digital world drowns out the good, the bad and the ugly. 

What say you?