I personally found the 90′s a boring era in the grand-scheme of things, whilst some of the most genuine and innovative bands emerged during that time (Jane’s Addiction for one) I don’t think, by and large, that the 90′s was a period noted for its ability to empower the public or create any tangible sense of change.
A worldwide recession, the Gulf War, the dot com boom bust saga and every kid wanting to be Kurt Cobain – hardly the marks of a memorable moment in history.
But as we entered the current decade, a palpable change was in the air – technology began to evolved at a far faster rate, becoming cheaper, smaller and more accessible in the process.
Suddenly your computer has morphed into something vastly superior to just using Microsoft Office and sending an e-mail. The Internet has shifted into not only a place to share information, but has now lead to the creation of new business models, worldwide political movements (the Obama campaign) and broken down the barriers into many fields of work, previously off limits to the average man in the street.
With broadband penetration continuing to rise, so to is the change in people’s habits in the digital realm – a shift away from conventional media and a sharper focus online. Conventional free-to-air TV audiences are shrinking, magazines and print media are watching their revenues vanish, retailers continue to see sales slump whilst radio is seeing a decline in their popularity. So what is happening here?
It’s very simple, as technology gets faster, as our lives continue to become a blur, people want content (be it music, news report, a TV show, a movie) instantly and on demand. That’s why on the graph below, On-Demand cable shows and the Internet are experiencing growth.
Current figures show an increasing number of Internet users searching for a particular news article, rather than visiting a site FOR the news. They’re finding out about breaking news via RSS feeds, referral links, blogs, forums, social-networks and status updates on sites like Twitter.
It’s an easy question, why would you buy a paper which is already dated before you’ve pick it up, when you could just as easily find out what is happening in real-time and for free? And just wait until mobile technology becomes even more seamless.
Lost in the suburbs? No need to fumble through the street directory, use Google Maps on your BlackBerry or iPhone. I do.
It seems less and less people are reliant on the influence of tastemakers in the media too. If they don’t like what Channel 7 has schedule for tonight, they’ll sit on YouTube instead or download their favorite show illegally. I don’t want to listen to the same 5 tracks being played on radio, I’d rather sit on MySpace and discover music on my own terms. It’s becoming that black and white. Active consumption of engaging content, verses the predictable passive offering.
But perhaps most interesting of all, set against this backdrop of average Joe changing the rules on the major media outlets, is that a new phenomenon has begun to emerge.
The startlingly ease with which to download anything you want illegally, combined with the power to sidestep the need to build a site or host content (MySpace, Vimeo, YouTube) and all tied together with the cost of cameras and laptops continually getting smaller and cheaper – has truly put YOU in control of the entire show.
Jeffree Starr - Personal Branding In Effect
We’re all collectively in the center of one of the most creative periods the world has been in, since the 1960′s. Just like then when people were busy creating an idea of what they wanted life to be like, people now create the idea of what their life actually is. True or make-believe, its all down to perception and more importantly how well you manage yourself as a brand.
I realize that seems like a rather peculier thing to say, the notion that you’re a “brand” in much the same way Coke-A-Cola is – but you truly are.
What is the difference in going to an interview in a sharp suit with a crisp shirt and uploading a great photo of yourself for your friends to see? They both serve the same purpose. You want to be percevied in a certain manner. (It’s funny to me because photos more than anything give you a very distorted view of the world, 90% of the time they are posed, forced and only attempt to show you the happy times. Rarely do they reveal the story going on behind the scenes.)
Say you upload photos of you and your partner. You want everyone to know you’re happy, that you want the same things in life and you want me think of you as an item and not individuals. That is precisely how a brand such as Coke operates, when they sponsor a summer festival so they be more aligned to people who like music and go to parties.
More and more people spend their majority of their time online, maintaining their favorite brand in the world – themselves. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing at all, but if someone is uploading a video of themselves to a social-network, that is time which was previously spent potentially watching TV or reading a magazine.
Suddenly the public are the programmers, user generated content is by far the most watched and consumed on the net – not the major networks.
Now there will always be professionals when it comes to music, online journalism, photography, design or any other creative medium. It’s all very well downloading the brand new Photoshop Suite, but at the end of the day you still need the talent to use it effectively.
And yes, there will still be blockbuster movies and mainstream bands on account of million dollar budgets and sponsorships. But now those outlets are not merely restricted to the privledged few – anyone can make their own indie movie, without financing from any of the corporate film houses.
Anyone with a decent internet connection can create and that’s the beauty of the era we current find ourselves in. Modern day technology provides you with the tools, society has given you the requirements and now its down to you – to piece it all together.
So what are you waiting for? Fire up your Macbook, log on and join some social-networks MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, register on photo and video sharing sites Flickr and YouTube, create a blog on WordPress or Blogger and promote your content to a worldwide community via Delicious and Digg.
Total cost? $0
Benefits? Millions of eyeballs waiting to see what you’ve got….
Welcome to 2009 people.
