BrandsAmongMany

Digital is changing the world. It’s changing the way we consume everything. Television isn’t television anymore – it’s just content. It no longer matters where we see it or how we take it in…

That’s an excerpt from a POKE project we worked on a while back. And it’s even more relevant today than it was the day we wrote it. As I sit back and look at how I consume media today, particularly “traditional” media like TV that was originally created for a specific mechanism of distribution, I’m struck by just how much things have changed.

There is exactly one show that I watch on television anymore, and that’s only because it isn’t readily available online. And even that show I watch when I want thanks to the joys of DVR. Everything else I want to see is available via some sort of online service: Hulu, ABC.com (though I don’t really follow their shows), CBS.com. And for movies, of course, I have a Netflix subscription. Add to that, their recently launched “watch it now” service for macs and I’m really pretty much set. And, of course, there will undoubtedly be a Roku set-top box in my future to make things that much easier. Or maybe an xbox.

Great! So what’s the problem? Well, the problem is that my home internet connection is rather…limited (to put it nicely). Or in simple terms, it stinks. Now, given what I’ve just said about how much I use it, that’s a major problem. We (yes, I live with roommates) have serious cable coverage in the apartment (DVR, lots of channels, HD, yadda yadda). But that doesn’t exactly help much when most of my consumption happens on another device. Granted, my roomies still watch TV the “old fashioned” way, so it’s tough to convince them that there’s something wrong with the picture.

But, if I had it to do all over again, I honestly think I’d go without the cable option. I’d pay a little more (if necessary) to get a good internet connection (and I’d make sure the system was set up so that I wasn’t streaming over wifi) and toss the rest. That allows me to see 95% of the content I’m really interested in, pretty much when I want to see it (Hulu and the network sites don’t always keep a full backlog of past shows) and the $75-100 per month savings in cable charges is just an added bonus. In fact, I’ve spoken to a couple of friends who are already doing just this, and they don’t seem to be missing too much.

Is it a solution that would work for everyone? No. I was talking through it with a non-technical friend who was scared by all the different sources, etc. that it entailed to view content. She’d rather just pay for cable. And, of course, the world of digital content delivery isn’t necessarily poised for this type of change either. Network sites still require a bit of patience because they don’t always work so well. Which, of course, brings me to my point and back to my original statement:

Television isn’t television anymore – it’s just content. It no longer matters where we see it or how we take it in…

How much longer is it going to take for that idea to really sink in? How much longer until the idea of connecting your television to a computer instead of a cable box is the norm rather than something that “requires patience”? It’s time people! Get rid of the boundaries between devices and start thinking about alternative means of delivery. Your audience will thank you for it. Sure, it will take a little while for it to trickle down the ranks, but your influentials and innovators are already waiting for it (or they’re making it happen by cobbling together their own solutions). This is the future, ladies and gentlemen, or so I’d say. What do you think? Do you have a unique system of consumption? Fill us in!

Flickr credit [funky_puppet]

Tom (aka. meat99) caught my eye with an interesting response this morning on Made With Computers. The question came from Tom Raftery’s Social Media blog. Tom (Raftery…this could get confusing) asked:

What is Social Media’s ‘big thing’ for 2008?

Here’s a quick excerpt from Tom (Raftery’s) post:

Looking back at Social Media, we have had a significant advance (a ‘this year’s big thing’) every year since 2004.

In 2004 - blogs started to really take off
In 2005 - audio podcasts started to take off
In 2006 - video podcasts started to take off
In 2007 - microblogging (Twitter in particular) started to take off
In 2008 - ???

We are in November now of 2008 and I still don’t see any big transformative Social Media technology which has occurred this year.

Has it stalled? What am I missing?

Tom (meat99) responded with:

2008 is the beginning of the “Curation” process. There is a quality revolution taking place in social media - video’s, blogs, photos, microblogs, etc will get more specific and more focused. Content will be much more focused on “how good it is” not on “how many people have seen it”.

As usual, an insightful answer from Tom (meat99) - hence why I love working with, and learning from, him. I don’t disagree with his response in the slightest; the idea of curation, especially through digital media, is something we’ve been looking at a lot this year at POKE. Just look at all the different digital services that have cropped up around culling down and presenting the “best of what’s out there”. Urban Daddy comes to mind quickly. So do Yelp, Going, and a slew of iPhone apps that could fill the rest of this page.

Of course, repeating his answer here doesn’t make for much of a thought - kinda wish I could rewind to before I read his post so it wouldn’t be stuck in my head. But after mulling it over for a few minutes, another important idea came back to me. This is an insight that I picked up on a recent project, and it’s something that has stuck with me. So here’s my response:

Perhaps the big evolution of social media in 2008 is the movement - or the acknowledgment and embracing of the trend - away from “collecting as many friends as possible” and toward the “advancement to the inner circles” of social media communities.

If we think about the history of social media for a minute, it’s pretty clear that some sort of caste system exists in almost every social site out there. Take a look at I’mInLikeWithYou, a dating site that masquerades as a gaming site that still works like a dating site (but functions like a social network)… Users “earn” the opportunity to get in touch with people who catch their interest by bidding and/or betting on a game started by the other person. But why are some games worth thousands of points while others barely jump above the 100 mark…?

Even simple message boards, perhaps the oldest form of “social networks” out there, often display a member number for each user. And the crew that’s been there the longest - those with the lowest numbers - have an unspoken seniority within the community. When they talk, others listen. And, of course, those members are often tapped to become the moderators and administrators of the community.

Recently, especially in the last year or so, we’ve seen more and more communities that make this a central focus. These social networks are no longer centered around how many friends you have, but rather overtly celebrate your status as a user within the community. Edopter, the “social trendcasting” site where users share what they believe will be the next big trend, is a perfect example. Rather than showing your friends on your profile, your rank within the system and your level of influence are placed front-and-center.

Yay Hooray!! is another excellent example - albeit one that I can’t speak to very specifically because I haven’t been invited to join yet. I do know, however, that it’s another community that labels its users according to a ranking system. Unlike some other communities though, on Yay Hooray!! it’s possible to skip over rungs on the ladder if an existing higher-up believes you’re worthy.

Of course, I guess Tom (Raftery) could argue that this doesn’t answer his original question if you take into account his reference to a “transformative technology” for 2008. But then, the difference between, say, audio vs. video podcasts (which Tom used as examples for ‘05 and ‘06, respectively) isn’t necessarily a big technological difference as much as it is a difference in the way that people are using the technology available to them.

So is this movement (shift in awareness? embracing of change?) THE ‘big thing’ for ‘08? I dunno. That feels like a heck of a claim that I’m a little hesitant to make (ie. commit to). But it’s definitely something that’s worth keeping in mind as we continue to move forward. Especially as more specialized, niche communities continue to grow across the web.