Internet Apotheosis: a strangely familiar theme reemerges

I usually reserve thoughts on social networking issues for my "Tangent" blog, which is located on LiveJournal's servers, but it seems to have been down for at least 48 hours, so I'm wondering if LJ has become a victim of the fickle hordes, who've flocked to MySpace, Xanga, Facebook & co. Ahem - people in glass Blogspots shouldn't throw stones! Regardless, I'm pursuing an issue that I started looking at here:
"Selling Kudos: the psychology of baiting with virtual crumbs"
http://virtualjonathan.livejournal.com/2405.html

I've run across "Getting Rich off Those Who Work for Free" (Justin Fox, Time, March 5, 2007) twice now: first online, and then flipping through the print version. The article focuses upon the "gift economy" of contributors to Wikipedia, open-source software (Linux, Firefox), Digg, Flickr, YouTube... and the list goes on. My argument was that web sites are baiting users with "virtual crumbs," eg. token rewards like hit stats and award badges on their sites... things that cost these sites nothing. In the meantime, while users provide free content for these sites the cash is pouring AWAY from the content creators: advertising revenue increases for the websites, investors pour more money into infrastructure, staffing, and R&D... and eventually the goal of the majority of these companies is to go public, or to sell the the whole bundle off at massive profits: systems, staff, user base AND a cache of user-created content.

This is all called the "Carr-Benkler" wager in tech/journalist circles at present. Benkler is a Yale law professor, and Carr is a business writer. Their debate is whether this "gift economy" model can continue to operate, and at which point it will become monetized. However, this is not my focus for writing this.

We find ourselves in familiar territory in terms of what humans have been battling for eons: the struggle for power, fame, and wealth. Increasing numbers are posting videos to YouTube in search of fame, and possible propulsion into commercial wealth. One prime example is the comedy duo Barats and Bereta, who were two students studying at a Jesuit college in the US, who discovered that YouTube was a powerful launchpad into a commercial career as comedy developers. Now they have a network TV deal, and the sheep are lining the hallways of YouTube in droves in search of the same kind of success.

However, is it too late for most to achieve the same kind of success? Has YouTube become too much of an 'American Idol' for the lowest common denominator to ever break through unless they're essentially talented, original, and work well with production teams in order to attract the attention of the masses? As 'early adaptors' they utilized the technology intelligently and profited.

Millions of teens dream of becoming the next Michael Jordan, Britney Spears (OK, not so much at the moment), Justin Timberlake, LonelyGirl, or whatever "dream" they have of ultimate commercial fame. However, the majority of their efforts and contributions are currently being cannibalised by corporations, and they'll never see anything in return for their efforts. I have a cynical outlook on all of this, because anything that ultimately leads to massive fame and fortune is eventually going to be swallowed by the bellies of the corporations. There are extremely brief windows for innovators to break these rules, but once the window closes everything is back to 'business as usual' in the entertainment industry to develop a commercially viable following.

So, what can we do with this information? Direct the strategy back at the target market/most succeptible (ie. teenagers) in order to cannibalize their disposable cash...and time? The answer for most of us may be quite simple: work hard at specializing in a field with an enduring 'shelf-life' and continue to upskill in it, while upgrading our skills in peripheral technologies and strategies.

My suggestion is to continue to teach people about how to deconstruct the media, so that they can continue to focus upon core values and work ethics. There are literally millions of virtual hallways to get lost in every day, but where are the 'guiding lights' in the information age? I fear that we're losing ourselves in our own achievement - the creation of this fantastic communication network, but it's become its own "Babel." We know that we can connect the world, but many people still seem to be stumbling around in drunken wonder at this achievement.

It's time to refocus. We've created the machine, but now what are we going to do with it? Is 'it' controlling us, or are we controlling it?