“Come gather round people wherever you roam and admit that the waters around you have grown and admit that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth saving, then you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a changing.” BOB DYLAN
In Chapter 4 Chris Anderson reveals the basic assumption behind the theory of the long tail: a cultural economic shift from mainstream to narrow niche markets spurred by the growth of Internet use and emergent technologies. However, Anderson keenly admits that the long tail’s postulate isn’t that simple. The scheme revolves around the complex economics of supply and demand. This is because niche existence is only half of the equation. The other component is desire, measured by the audience’s want. Put another way, it’s one thing for there to be niche markets, and it’s another thing to have an audience that flocks to them. Naturally, this process produces forces that create the long tail. These driving strengths are summarized by Anderson as “make it, get it out there, and help me find it.” The democratizing tools of production enable the power to “make it.” Consequently, the democratizing tools of distribution “get it out there” and the connection of supply and demand using aggregators “help me find it.”
Chapter 5 discusses the Pro-Am era where Anderson boldly breaks down the barriers between amateurs and professionals; even admitting the two beings work on a leveler playing field, not equal (yet) but not as foreign as previously conceived. These “amateurs” actually serve to not only assist professionals but at the same time keep them in check since their proletarian eyes are scrutinizing big media’s every move. This chapter reviews another topic we’ve dutifully given our undivided attention to: open source. Anderson cites Wikipedia as open source in its purest form. Another key idea behind this example is the argument of how the many can be smarter than the few, and how order can be created from chaos. Peer production is beneficial since it is driven by volunteers fueled by desired (as evidenced through the Wikipedia phenomenon). The point is a transformation has occurred and a shift from “consumerism” to “producerism” is upon us. In other words, people who were once helpless passive consumers can now emerge as powerful active producers. As a result, these changes are altering our marketplace and economy. In an “exposure culture” reputation and attention are essential to success. In a centralized market monopolized by the operations of big corporations getting noticed seems impossible. However, with the blurring of professional and amateur lines combined with cheap tools for creativity, talent is distributed more widely. The result is an economy that supports participatory media and the collaborative idiosyncratic opportunities that these emerging dynamics maintain.
Chapter 6 of Anderson’s compelling book continues to dish about the economics of abundance that is enabled by the long tail effect of choice and availability. The new markets that have emerged owe a big thanks to the shared media ecosystem which developed from our information rich environment. To reiterate, the idea behind the long tail is that it deviates from the power rule. In terms of supply and demand, we are living in a period of over abundance sparked by the inception of the Internet. It can be likened to the “domino effect”: production is changing, so demand shifts, which affects supply, and consequently manipulates price. When discussing the reputation economy Anderson alludes to the end of inventory and the rise of a massively parallel culture. The book (from my understanding) is trying to trace the abundance of supply. Put simply, media scarcity is out and diversified abundance is in. Attention is the limited resource that spearheads a “zero-sum game” over grappling consumer interest. Accordingly, money lies in aggregating the long tail, not simply by being in it. Thus, attention is the new currency and understanding the economic repercussions of content management is a must.
Jay Rosen contributes to the Pro-Am revolution in his article which deconstructs bloggers and journalists. According to Rosen, the bloggers vs. journalists debate is over. Rosen cites many professionals (one being tech journalist and our other book’s author Dan Gillmor) who have abandoned their well-respected posts to support a grassroots citizen-media approach. Also interesting to note is that although some big names didn’t feel compelled to desert their positions entirely, they did however modify them by taking up blogging and/or announcing plans to move toward a more democratic model at their current operations. The crux of Rosen’s article is emphasizing the equalizing potential of the Internet, highlighting the balance of power as a result of new technologies, and describing the effects of distributed, participatory, open source journalism and its implications for our culture. Rosen optimistically views this shift as a necessary freedom in our economy in which everything is up for grabs.
“Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen and keep your eyes wide the chance won’t come again. Don’t speak too soon for the wheel’s still in spin. There’s no telling who that it’s naming. For the loser now will later to win, for the times they are a changing.”
