Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Why we need to celebrate our Digital Heroes

By Justin Pearse, Editor, New Digital Age

The digital industry is one of the most supportive, creative and joyful sectors in existence and it’s a privilege to be part of it.

This may sound obvious to many but it’s something it’s easy to lose sight of in the day-to-day grind and especially in light of the seemingly never-ending cycle of scandals, negative headlines and ongoing structural issues digital faces.

But the people in the digital industry always give you faith.

Never mind the simply awesome technology we now have at our fingertips, digital really is all about people. It’s the incredible digital heroes that have built the industry and continue to push both creative and technical boundaries enabling brands and publishers to deliver amazing experiences for consumers.

It’s why we launched our My Digital Hero series, to find out who the leading people in our industry look up to and are inspired by.

We’ve been blown away by the response. Not only in the sheer quality of the people that have taken part but by how seriously they’ve taken the challenge to identify their own digital hero.

Take this response recently from one of the most successful, high profile figures in digital. 

Apologising for his delay choosing his hero, he said “I’m taking your questions very seriously which is why I’ve been so soul-searchingly slow.”

After all, it’s a big question to name your digital hero. There’s nothing self-promotional, PR or marketing driven in the task. It’s simply a pure celebration of innate heroism.

What makes the task of choosing more difficult is that this is an industry that has always reshaped society at large, enabling and engendering huge shifts in human behaviour.

It’s also an industry that was born of revolutionary ideals of creating a better society, even hippy ideals of changing the world for the better.

As digital has disrupted and continues to disrupt every aspect of human life and commerce, these underlying ideals persist.

Yes of course people have got filthy rich along the way and countless problems sparked by digital technology continue to dog our society.

But at its heart, digital is still led by people who want to do good.

Which is why the stories of those picking their digital heroes are so inspiring and life affirming.

We’re always looking for more Digital Heroes so if there’s someone you’d like to nominate, please get in touch.