Perhaps one of the best presentations so far was that provided by Safa Rashtchy (archived: 2020) titled User Generated Content: You Are No Longer in Control. not so much because of the content, very little of which was groundbreaking news or information. What was interesting was how he put all of the pieces together:
1 – Communitainment (archived: 2007)
2 – Usites – Yelp, etc.
3 – The web is mainstream
4 – Declining use of traditional media (hint: print is on its way out; the internet is the #1 form of media consumption at work, with people “wasting” two hours every day)
5 – Fragmentation of content consumption
6 – Evolution of user generated brands
A few thoughts on the above – Might communities such as Yelp, ActiveRain, RealTown (no longer available), etc minimize the need and influence of the extortionist referral companies?
If the web has passed all other forms of media for its reach, why do so many companies spend so much money on print?
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