"In 2004, Wired magazine popularized the phrase 'the long tail' to refer to the large number of specialized offerings that in themselves appeal to a small number of people, but cumulatively represent a large market that can be easily aggregated on the Internet. Plotted on a graph along with best sellers, these specialized products trail off like a long tail that never reaches zero." John Hendricks, the chief executive of Discovery Communications, predicted that "the next wave of media is to unleash the power of serving people's special interests." This has become more and more evident through the slew of "video services serving hundreds of specialties, including poker, bicycling, lacrosse, photography, vegetarian cooking, fine wine, horror films, obscure sitcoms and Japanese anime."
The Internet today offers an almost infinite amount of programming to appeal to every niche of people imaginable. People used to be amazed when they were faced with hundreds of cable TV channels, but that's nothing compared to the opportunities they have today. There are entire online communities dedicated to those, like Andy Steward-who thought they were alone, but through online entertainment can have a forum to express his passions ad interest with others who share his appreciation for all things sailing.
Hansell, Saul (2006, 3, 12). As Internet TV Aims at Niche Audiences, the Slivercast Is Born. New York Times,
Facebook has developed a unique advertising platform that takes advantage of niches and groups that we have grouped ourselves into. It is called “social advertising,” and takes into account what you are involved in and the opinions of your friends. It makes the advertisements seem less commercial resulting in more positive attention. “Yesterday, in a twist on word-of-mouth marketing, Facebook began selling ads that display people’s profile photos next to commercial messages that are shown to their friends about items they purchased or registered an opinion about,” (Story, 2007). This type of narrowed advertising breaks through the noise and clutter of the media world.
ReplyDeleteWhen I log on, the left side of the screen is full of designer cloths, diet pills and sorority advertisements. On my younger brother’s page he has ads from Burton, baseball hats and restaurants. This platform has tapped into resources that will allow from the most bang for their buck.