User generated content really isn’t the future of the internet. It’s already the present. We focus much on facebook, twitter, digg, etc. but UCG is everywhere; it’s these blog posts, it’s reviews on Amazon, it’s every comment on every site. The majority of major website have a substantial element of UGC and some are primarily driven by that (eg. twitter). I often like UGC to open source: it is the quality and quantity of the users that creates the content and appeal of both concepts. What I like about both UGC and open source the most is that it opens up information and communication between people, rather than having it be controlled by companies. While I understand the power a good facebook page can have for marketing a company, I get a bit nauseous watching pages of pages of corporate fan pages on facebook from class. I in part visit UGC pages like facebook and wikipedia to AVOID being blatantly marketed too in a cool new! ways. I don’t want twitter to be the tool of marketers, I want it to be the tool of people. I would rather become a fan of “Texting the person next to you stuff you cant say out loud” than McDonald’s when on facebook (admittedly I am a fan of neither). My point is that the pro of UGC is that offers the both the best and largest amount of information to any one person. However the con is that this benefit can also be muted once companies try to use every UGC channel as a marketing opportunity.
So I will use a case study of a real person. A person who became irrelevant over 6 years ago but has recently found a rennaisance in the public eye via twitter (amongst other things). A person who just wants to party hard. I’m talking of course about Andrew W.K. To say he’s the coolest person ever, would be to state the obvious. But how does a one hit wonder maintain relevance years later? The answer is the internet. He is, as the NBC link stated, “Twitter’s resident PARTY HARD guru” and his tweets are often reposted on other sites. Where his music may have fizzled out, the personality he created lives on. He offers party tips (“PARTY TIP: Don’t feel the need to invite me to your party – I’m already coming! In fact, I’m already there! And I’m puking!”) and interactive offers (“TWEET YOUR FAVORITE PARTY LYRICS for a chance to win an personalized signed poster and prize pack!”). All in all his presence on the internet has led to a resurgence in a popularity and a totally awesome show coming soon to adult swim. The lesson here: type in all caps on twitter and you might get a tv show. The other lesson: it’s TIME TO PARTY!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Write a Comment