This slide show is definitely worth giving this presentation a whirl (press the green button to hear the narrative). It’s interesting how marketers and media theorists read the same books, but the difference is what people do with the information. In this presentation by John V Willshire at PHD Media, he breaks down the major media revolutions described in Benkler’s Wealth of Networks, but comes up with some bizarre (but not surprising) conclusions.
For example, I don’t agree with Willshire’s definition of community. It is very mechanistic. Communities are not just people who communicate with each other, they are people who have shared meaning and symbols. Talking about a product is not shared meaning. However, I do think there are some good ideas here, particularly about attracting people through engagement and giving them something useful (for free) as a way of drawing people into the kind of services you offer. I just hope it is something more meaningful than a candy bar.
