Does Writing Web Content Foster Creativity?

Today, eMarketer reports on a new Pew Research study on "Home Broadband Adoption." It says that over 48 million American adults, (35% of US internet users) have created and posted content online.  Further, they theorize that "the Internet may actually foster creativity ."   Intuitively, I think that's true, the Internet allows  you to effortlessly communicate with words, pictures and audio to people around the world.

I recently saw an interview with futurist Alvin Toffler about his new book "Revolutionary Wealth" (see reading list). It's a great read about how future wealth will be created and tracked. He talked about how he fosters his own creativity.  His comments were enlightening. 

Like most creative people, he is a voracious reader— "I'm a reading machine!"   Ok, nothing new here, everyone knows that reading is an essential way to keep your mind open and sharp.  But what he stressed is that by reading several very different books and articles at the same time, he sees connections that never would have occurred to him if he were not reading them simultaneously.

Information about history, international news stories and current web trends all make the cut.  He shifts timeframes, points of view and location.  I read several books at once, but they are all pretty similar in topic and timeframe.  I'm going to focus on this approach and see if new connections and ideas are created.  If you try it, let me know how it works for you.

Technorati tags: web+content creativity