RANTISODE: Hype Vs. Hyperbole
by Ranty Em | Published May 12, 2022
In my professional life, I do a lot of writing (surprise, surprise). As a writer, I do a lot of reading, too. And by no means do I claim to be the best at what I do. I am, however, unflinchingly rigid in one area.
Respect.
Respect who you’re speaking to (or ideally, with). Respect their intelligence and their time. Words mean things. And while I’m the first to admit that interpretations vary, the amount of arrogant, jargon-riddled gibberish I encounter is astonishing. And gross. Truly, it’s gross.
“But businesses have to optimize copy for search engines! We have to get our audience hyped! This [INCREMENTAL PRODUCT UPDATE] is revolutionary, and we deserve to beat our chests a little!”
Does this approach actually have long-term success these days? Unless we’re talking about inexpensive impulse purchases, I’m going to say no. Of course, businesses and marketers aren’t the only parties guilty of conflating hype with hyperbole. In an Attention economy, it’s not surprising. It is, however, seemingly inescapable.
Remember when we used to be able to find what we were looking with relative ease, following a simple Google search? Now, people include “Googling” as a resume skill because it legitimately takes expertise to verify information accuracy and filter out the bullsh!t.
And although I primarily discuss the Outrage economy, today we’re taking a brief detour into the world of piss-poor writing across the professional / business / marketing landscape.
Why? Because it’s everywhere. It’s annoying AF. And it’s trash writing, and as a writer who by day, desperately fights against it , I hate the sh!t out of it.
Let’s get to it.
My Top 5 List of unsolicited opinions around Hype vs. Hyperbole:
It doesn’t matter if you get first place in a competition no one cares about.
Claiming to be Number 1 / World’s Best / Industry Leader is meaningless without EARNED and VERIFIABLE proof.
If you look at your competition and you sound just like them, you’re the noise, not the signal.
Promoting technology that doesn’t *technically* exist as described is not the flex you think it is.
If you fear short-term failures more than you want long-term success, for better or worse, you’ll achieve neither.
That’s it. Enough with the meaningless claims of grandeur. They are condescending, out-of-touch, lifeless words that merely become good writing’s echo.
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