The New Network—More of the same?

Of the many topics discussed I thought among the most interesting (or scary) was the idea that MAKER is as large as it is. Not because they are bad or evil—but simply because I consider myself fairly familiar with the players in this space and have never really heard of them.

Well I’ve ‘heard’ of them but never gave content curators like MAKER much consideration. On the surface, it feels like a niche of a niche. However what isn’t? Today, practically any new attempt to reach a ‘mass’ audience only insures you won’t reach anyone. The shared experience of cross-demographic reach is all but gone—which is disappointing in some ways but quite refreshing in others.

What is disappointing is that shared experiences bring us together. With the snowballing amount of content being created it makes connecting over content with people who don’t fit your little bubble a lot less likely.  

What is rather exciting is the idea that creators have more opportunity than ever to find AN audience. I find this fantastic. It’s neat to think that if my content is decent it will earn a loyal audience. But that isn’t really true either. 

The amount of competition for an audience is a hockey-stick graph as well. This makes investing time/money/resources/energy in any content creation something to think twice about. This is why MAKER exists. They help you get your content in-front of an audience. . . right? Well sort of.

My point is there is no panacea. The fault of the old network system: not enough variety is partially a result of this: those in control of curating used that influence to their advantage—rewarding the content that monetizes the most efficiently. The new problem: too much variety so we need curators, but isn’t the end result ultimately the same?

MAKER, like the networks before it will celebrate, reward, and produce the content that monetizes the most efficiently.  This isn’t a bad thing—it’s just the new reality. The audience is only so big. And our attention only so . . . I  wonder where this link will take me . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf_IIbT8HGk