In his 2010 book Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky made the argument that Humans watched too much low quality TV, which was a waste of time, and that new technology (mobile phones, social networking) will unlock that wasted time and turn it into positive productivity. In a particularly memorable analogy, he compared the habit of modern sit-com watching to the 18th century habit of sniffing gin-soaked rags—numbing the brain with passive consumption.
I think it’s fair to say the media landscape has evolved quite differently than Shirkey predicted. If watching sit-coms is like sniffing gin rags, then doom-scrolling social media is like taking fentanyl. That might sound extreme, but you get the point. A softer analogy is food: user generated content is often like dessert, while news and high-quality content are more like vegetables. The problem is that right now, our collective media diets are unhealthy.
And that imbalance matters. It’s not just about how much time we spend scrolling (and what that does to our brains or mental health); it’s about how our perspectives narrow when we only consume content that reflects back what we already think.
The View From Home
I see this play out every day with my three kids. Like all parents, I want them to grow up healthy—in body, mind, and spirit. But in today’s digital environment, that’s hard.
They love watching Minecraft videos and MrBeast challenges, and I’m fine with that in moderation. But I also see the darker side: even the best social platforms can’t fully prevent inappropriate or harmful content from slipping in. Roblox is a perfect example—it’s designed for creativity, but has had significant safety issues.
As a parent, it’s terrifying. And as someone who has worked in media and advertising for nearly two decades, it’s clear to me that the system itself is off balance. Right now, advertising dollars are flowing disproportionately to “desserts” and “drugs”—the addictive, empty-calorie parts of the internet—while the vegetables and fruits of the open internet barely scrape by.
Why the Open Internet Matters
The “open internet” is the decentralized network of independent publishers, creators, and content producers who get paid to make high-quality content. These are the journalists, artists, educators, and storytellers who enrich culture and deepen our understanding of the world.
But the open internet is not healthy right now. It’s competing against walled gardens that optimize for engagement at all costs. And when the ad dollars don’t flow to the open internet, the quality of the diet we all consume suffers.
So the big question is: how do we create a healthier, more balanced digital diet for the next generation?
Why I Joined The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk is our best shot at making the internet meaningfully better. It comes down to three things:
- Mission. TTD is fully committed to building and strengthening the open internet—not as a side project, but as its core purpose.
- Founder Leadership. In industries that move this fast, only founder-led companies have the conviction and courage to make big, disruptive bets.
- Data at the Core. To reshape the internet, we need analytics, transparency, and data-driven decision making at the heart of the system—exactly the kind of approach The Trade Desk has pioneered (and companies like Sincera have championed).
That’s why I’m joining The Trade Desk. It’s the best shot we have at rebalancing the internet, creating a system where quality content can thrive, and ensuring that the digital world we pass down to our kids is one worth inheriting.
I’m excited to join Mike O’Sullivan, Jeff Green, Samantha Jacobson, and the entire TTD team on their mission to transform media for the benefit of humankind.