day 2918: Digital Shifting

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”

I just read an analysis by the team from Amplitude who service over 600 installed Applications.  In the report they were trying to determine the impact of COVID on different digital sectors.  They looked at B2B Saas, Consumer Tech, E-Commerce, Streaming Media and FinTech.  Not surprising was the growth of Consumer Tech, E-Commerce and Streaming Media.  What was a bit of a shocker was just how much growth occurred in all three areas. E-Commerce and Streaming Media doubled their new users.  They doubled from February to May last year!  That’s three months and the new users never left.  That tells me that a shift has happened that doesn’t regress back.  The report confirms that we are not giving up on physical goods but we are more than fine shopping for them online and waiting for bit for them to appear.  The need for instant gratification shopping will always be there, but for how many people?  And the move to Streaming Media is a major shift that could finally kill off the movie theater and other performing arts venues and offerings.  Just, think about it.  First day release both in the movie theater and your living room.  Which one are you going to think hard about before you go?  Which one has your sweatpants waiting for you?  Shifts are occurring that will need to be thought hard about for deciding what we should do next.  Feels to me like Digital just did a slam dunk right over the top of lots of analog and in real life offerings.

What bearing does this have on us as we attempt to bring Glory to God in our work?  What I take from this is that if we want to be in the right place, at the right time for Christ that it is important that we remain knowledgeable and adaptable to be where others are.  Those can be our co-workers, our consumers and customers, our friends, our kids. Really, it is for everyone in our lives. And while we adapt, we don’t have to shift from the firm foundation of our faith.  If we build our lives as we should, and we continue to return to how we are to live for Him, then our adaptations can become the unique identifiers of God’s love and grace that attracts others.

References: Matthew 5:14 (New Living Translation)