We can make more than ever. What's worth making?

Most of what changed my life started online.

I didn't begin with a business plan or a particularly clear idea of where things could go.

I had a camera, an interest in making things and an internet connection.

I started learning photography and video, making work and putting it in front of people.

That opened doors I wouldn't have known how to open otherwise.

An audience. Clients. Work with brands. Relationships. Opportunities that eventually became a career.

The internet changed what was possible for someone like me.

And I don't think we've fully appreciated just how extraordinary that shift has been.

For most of history, making something was one challenge. Getting it in front of people was another.

Today, someone can learn a skill, publish their work, find an audience, meet collaborators or create an opportunity without waiting for an institution to choose them.

And now AI is changing another part of the equation.

Things that previously required specialist knowledge, expensive software or entire teams are increasingly possible for individuals to attempt.

You can research, write, design, prototype and build in ways that were difficult to imagine even a few years ago.

There are obvious limits to what these tools can do well. But the direction is significant.

More people have more ways to turn an idea into something real.

That should excite us.

But I think it also raises a question that deserves more attention.

Just because we can make more, does that mean we're making better things?

More content doesn't necessarily mean more understanding.

More attention doesn't automatically create more trust.

And greater capability doesn't tell us what that capability should be used for.

I've experienced some of that tension myself.

I know what attention can make possible. I also know how easily it can become something you chase for its own sake.

Becoming a Christian changed how I think about what I've been given and what I'm responsible for doing with it.

I still care about making excellent work, building ambitious things and using technology well.

But I increasingly think the question of what those things are for matters just as much as whether we can make them successful.

That's part of why I'm building THE916.

I want more people to discover what they're capable of.

Not simply so they can post more, grow an audience or make money online, although legitimate opportunities can come from doing good work publicly.

I want people to be able to take something they know, care about or want to contribute, make something worthwhile from it and put it into the world.

A film. A business. A useful tool. A piece of writing. A service. A project that helps people. Something we haven't thought of yet.

The possibilities are much wider than becoming a content creator.

And I think the standard we bring to those possibilities matters.

It doesn't need to become a business or a personal brand.

And it doesn't need to be impressive.

It just needs to be a real step towards something worth doing.

We'll explore plenty of different subjects in these Letters. Creativity, technology, culture, faith, people making interesting things and the questions I think deserve more attention.

For now, that seems like a good place to begin.