Intro: Clients from Hell

Recently I subscribed to Clients from Hell, a popular blog for graphic designers. Humorous to a point, the blog pokes fun at the people that hire designers. Clients can be really humorous, asking absurd things. To folks familiar with graphic design, the ignorant things clients say are funny.

I don't always laugh. Miscommunication between clients and creative types causes frustration, mismanaged projects, and lost sales. Making fun of this illustrates a problem with the internet: instead of laughing at stupid clients, a community of designers could be figuring out ways of communicating with clients more clearly. Instead of laughing at client stupidity, designers could be talking about ways of efficiently educating them.

The Internet Fosters Inaction

The internet fosters insular, inactive communities. Mocking the people that pay you is one example. Most online political forums are another. People endlessly talk, mock, and flame instead of creating something better. People keep themselves in boxes instead of building meaningful connections.

Seek Authentic Action and Conversation

The solution is belonging to online communities that represent real relationships and inspire real activity. I like Twitter because I can follow people I know in real life. In the past, people have held me accountable for saying mean things. It takes courage for us to ignore cheap laughs and build something meaningful. For me, it is worth the effort.

We work better when our online activity is connected to real-world actions; we communicate better when our online conversations are connected to real-world conversations.

Take Action

• Join online networks and conversations with real people you know doing real things you care about. Find people willing to censor your bad moves.
• Disengage from networks and conversations marked by inactivity and endless arguments. Challenge the people you care about to censor themselves and act on what they talk about.