Dear Open Letter Writers,

Congratulations! You’ve successfully utilized your first amendment rights. You should feel good about that! But what have you accomplished? IMHO — it’s something significant…probably something far more significant than you realize.

A little while back, I was listening to a speech by John Maeda, a brilliant designer and now a design partner at KPCB. He said something to the extent of (and John, I apologize if I’m butchering this) people are either makers or talkers, and it’s really hard for makers to talk, and also for talkers to make. But, the most successful people are the ones that can do both.

I work with makers, and I experience this first-hand — there are people in the world, out there everyday, doing. And it can be really hard to take a step back and summarize that doing into words. Luckily for my colleagues, I’m a talker. Always have been. And what John said resonated with me.

I’ve always been told that ‘talk is cheap;’ it really doesn’t get you anywhere. But for me, talking is how I experience and understand the world around me; it’s how I connect with people. Talking is constructive; it allows me to gain perspective, to teach and learn simultaneously. However, it also has its limitations.

I used to write letters. Not the nice hand-written ones for my grandma — the complain-y kind. If I was pissed off at how long a light would take to switch, I would write a letter. When a bus would show it’s coming in 3 minutes, and 45 minutes later, there’s still no bus — I would write a letter. I wrote letters complaining about my student loans, about the lack of integrity in the entertainment industry, about terrible bosses I had. And I’ll be damned if I ever got a single response.

But things are changing now.

There’s a shift happening. People are becoming visible. We are instantly connected to a large portion of the world around us. That cheap talk we used to throw around (more to vent than anything) is being seen. And recorded. And it’s causing things to happen.

Talking is becoming action.

At first it was slow. Documentaries would point out problems and the Internet would uproar (for a moment, at least). The media would target issues and spotlight people we can hold accountable. This was all great, but still somewhat isolated, and to an extent, not terribly participatory.

But then it happened. You happened. You open letter writer you.

You began to share your voice, and people listened. Likeminded individuals, people who understand or acknowledge your perspective, shared your voice and turned it into an anthem. Opposition would come in the form of more open letters, creating an additional dynamic. And to an extent, it’s one of the greatest things that could have happened to the world.

Never in history could someone so quickly bring the world’s attention to an issue. Never before could Plain Jane or Average Joe, with no recognizable name or formal credibility, be instantaneously given the national spotlight. Simply because you’re talking. That’s it — talking. Not even yelling. Just on your computer, at home in your pajamas eating leftovers. And I bet you anything, when you hit enter to publish your post, you had no idea people were going to listen.

But they did. And suddenly, there were consequences.

The thing is, there have always been consequences. It’s just that there has never been this level of accountability before. I watch my peers (millenials, ugh) posting on Facebook as if they were bantering to their friends, saying things that could ultimately (and very likely) be used against them. It seems as though the speed in which you can publish a post is significantly more satiating than the speed in which it takes to research, to learn, to fully understand what’s happening before typing your 140 characters and hitting enter. And therein lies the problem — when it’s so easy to talk, it somehow becomes much harder to listen. Or better — to have a constructive dialogue.

For the first time in modern history, talking is causing action. And people are being held accountable for those actions. Which brings me to my point:

For all you talkers in the world like me, this is your time to inspire action — to make the world a better place through your words, and through our dialogue. But as a talker, you have a responsibility to understand the implications of your words. Words can be used to construct, or destruct, and before you put them out in the world, you need to sincerely consider the impact you can have.

This is ideal comes to life as we move deeper into election season. It’s like the full moon for talkers, turning your friends into werewolves and bringing out the worst in people. Your friends, who have voiced no political opinion for the past four years, are suddenly the experts on foreign policy and economics.

It’s funny to me how in politics, there’s an odd stigma around looking to what other countries are doing to see what works and what doesn’t. When my extremely-far-left sister called out the effectiveness of free education programs in some European countries, my also-liberal Uncle immediately replied, “Well then move there.” The same way I find this train of though extraordinarily odd in politics, I think it stems from human behavior. I think it stems from ego.

We talkers are proud people. It’s taken us this long to formulate our opinions, and we’re going to shout them from the rooftops. And if you don’t agree with what I’m saying, I somehow feel that if I shout louder, you’ll hear me, and change your mind.

Words can help people learn and understand. They can also hurt people (my sister and uncle are indeed no longer Facebook friends…or real-life friends). They can bring light to certain issues or help people in need, but they can also damage reputations, ignite racism, isolate people and communities.

Before you go to write your next open letter, or post your next political diatribe, or provide your commentary on important social issues, I want to remind you of your obligation as a talker. You have an obligation (and I use that word with poignancy) to consider the weight of your words. You have the power to create a dialogue, to grow as an individual, and grow within your relationships. You have the power to empower others, those closest to you and people you’ve never met.

You have the power to offer a solution. And more importantly, you have the power to listen to others, so that your solution can be informed, inclusive, inspiring.

Before you go and write you next open letter, think about what you are really trying to accomplish. If you need to vent, great! That’s healthy! But do you really want that recorded, on blast for the world to see? Use this powerful medium for good. Talk about the issues that matter to you. Learn from others, and gain as much perspective as you can. If someone doesn’t agree with you, listen to what they have to say, and learn from that. You may be right, but that doesn’t mean their opinion isn’t valid to them, and that they can hurt from your words.

Talk may be cheap, but dialogue is invaluable.

So, go. Write. Create a dialogue. Offer solutions. You never know — you can be changing the world with those words.

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Thanks for listening! Please comment below or share if you want to further this dialogue.

For more thoughts, news and shenanigans, follow me on Twitter: @danshermanparty.