Media Today

It’s no longer about Content Marketing.

It’s about Personal Authorship.

Which means that most media is now focused on the individual instead of the brand.Brand is the backdrop for the community.And the brand pulls in individuals to lead that community forward and represent the brand.

So it’s your time to speak up. Your time to connect. Your time to add to a conversation. You’ve got a plethora of networks to choose from. Which one suits you best? And what do you want to see happen there?

Twitter
Everyone there wants to hear it “first” and then spread the word seamlessly with RT. (That’s a Retweet, which republicizes other’s content on your feed). You gain status on the network by affiliation, and by discovery. Conversations happen publicly or in DM's where people move to other channels like email. There are many sub-groups and cliques which form to further dial in content discovery, which is further expedited by Twitter "lists."

Instagram
Got taken over by memes. Stories have kept the platform alive, and shopping will be the next pump of oxygen. But it’s no longer about photography, and it’s no longer about manicuring your life to perfection. Slowly it’s shifting more towards Snapchat. Just like Facebook.More messages between friends in "private" channels. IGTV seems to have fallen off the map, and Youtube will try and eat that cake with more social-like features.

Twitch
Is about connection. People miss this because they think the main show is Gaming. But why do people spend hours watching Twitch streams? Why do people tune in week in and week out? They want to connect. But it’s nearly impossible to build up an audience there, there are no sharing features! If they get that right, the platform will grow exponentially.

Youtube
It could slowly take over your search traffic. Anything you want is there, and it’s built for you to discover based on intent rather than just popularity alone. So the niche still wins on Youtube. And there are plenty of niches left to fill. My take is that we all will find ourselves turning to Youtube more and more for queries we have about just about anything, and sometimes just for killing dead time.

Podcasts
New formats are still emerging, and celebrities and brands are still catching on. This network is conversational. Quality is a must, but it no longer needs to be overproduced.Apple’s missing the boat with their app, discoverability is still greatly lacking. Spotify will grow simply because it's easier to have your media in one place, whereas with Apple you're stuck trying to understand iTunes.

With all of these, cross-pollination is the key.

You build on one channel, and if you understand the nuances of each network you can start bridging between them. But it’s not easy to go Omnichannel. Many stumble trying to make the leap. Like going from Youtube to Twitch. Or Twitter to Instagram. It takes a different effort, time and dedication if it even works then.

Each network has to be thought about on an island, but does it also make sense as a whole?

In technology, follow the developers.

In media, follow the comedians.

Whether it's Joe Rogan or Chris Delia, who even has his own app. They've understood that it's about people tuning in to THEM.

This is the new paradigm that has disrupted Television.

It's direct, personal authorship.

Brands and Individuals collaborate to foster relationships between each other…

And that’s what’s so striking today. Its fluid.

We’ve blurred the lines between networks, people, brands, information…

It's one giant ongoing conversation.

xx David