The Inkstained Mind: Who decides what you see on the Internet?

23 May 2011

Who decides what you see on the Internet?

Well, for one thing - it isn't you.

As you will find out in the following video, information is not only filtered at several levels, but in so many different ways as well... And the worst worrying aspect is that you never really know what is being kept from you!

One manifestation of this is the Splinternet - which is, to use a metaphor, ranchers (service providers) corralling steers (users) into vast pastures (Internet and mobile platforms) in the Wild West. The difference is that the world outside the fence is invisible!

This trend is not going to be rolled back as 'users' and their 'profiles' are the only real assets that can be monetised by companies like Apple, Google, Yahoo, and their ilk. Also the more detailed the user profile, the more valuable it is.

The web as we know it has changed. And most of us don't even know it.

No comments:

Post a Comment

WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

It's often called the world's second oldest profession.

But while the scope of the oldest one has changed little over time, the evolution in the way we communicate has had profound impact on Advertising.

In the ancient and medieval world, Advertising meant word-of-mouth. In the 1500s with the development of printing it became a 'paid public notice', disseminating the message to many. And it had Copy & Art.

Then came radio, TV, computer, cable TV, Internet, mobile phones, Internet on mobile, and it's still not done... Even what we perceive as 'change' is changing. Continuously.

So what is Advertising today?

Honestly, I don't know.

But I do know from a dozen years evolving with the business, that Advertising is most valued when it can make a tangible difference for the advertiser.

That has not changed. And probably won't.

UPDATE: Nothing's changed. But in a way, everything has.

As you see, my focus has shifted - evolved in a way - to a larger canvas. The shift or evolution was gradual, and may be have been discernable to the more observant reader.

While I was delving into the influence of media in society to better understand how perceptions are created, evolved and disseminated, I chanced upon a thread of knowledge that I frankly never knew existed.

My conclusion is that a deep pool of awareness and consciouness exists beyond the shallow narcissistic boundaries created by the convention view of social media and the Internet.

My aim is to send my readers down any path that can lead to this quenching pool.