During Chris Anderson's famous book, the Long Tail, he describes the true power that the web has given us; an easy ability to share and distribute our passions in order to connect with others.
What exactily is the Long Tail?
Anderson describes it as such: "Our culture and economy are increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of hits (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve, and moving toward a huge number of niches in the tail."
Anderson then identifies three 'forces' that drive the long tail (from DJ Alchemi review):
1. More stuff is being produced. Technology and the internet make it cheaper and easier to record and distribute your own songs, publish your own writings and so on. This lengthens the tail.
2. There is better access to niches, again thanks to the reach and economies on the net. This fattens the tail.
3. Search and recommendations connect supply and demand. This drives business from hits to niches.
It is these niches that help the millions of blogs and social networks flourish.
As a brand, the ability to tap into these niches and start meaningful conversations with individuals is a key pillar of success on the web. No longer will people listen to a message that's to broad - it has to be personal.
A neat example of a popular niche below.
No comments:
Post a Comment