Intermediary Factors

Jupiter Research just released a report titled, “Networked Media: Thriving In An Intermediated World.” The report points out that 57% of 18- to-24-year-old Internet users get their news from portals versus 21% from cable news sites–and online users now trust portals nearly as much as traditional news media. “To thrive on the Web, news sites must become more network-focused and aggregate content from other sources while distributing their own content through intermediaries,” said David Schatsky, president of Jupiter Research. “By paying closer attention to the tendencies of the end user, these sites will be able to evolve and meet the needs of a wider online audience.” “Not only must content producers embrace intermediaries to serve their own audiences and reach out to new ones” explained JupiterResearch analyst Barry Parr, but “they should exploit opportunities to become intermediaries for their core audiences.”The researchers again seem to be missing a major shift occurring in the world of social networks.  The end user is in fact the intermediary, not the traditional portals of content.  As social networks mature individual will become their own portals of information, news and meida.  Individuals first have affinities to other individuals so the tendency is for people to check in on people and see what is going on in their lives. 

The medium of social networks enables the individual to become the broadcast portal, one to one then to millions. David Schatsky, president of Jupiter Research one comment speaks volumes if we put it into context of the emerging market. He says “By paying closer attention to the tendencies of the end user, these sites will be able to evolve and meet the needs of a wider online audience.”

The emerging market portals are the individuals personal networking portals currently dispersed throughout numerous social networks.  Soon the individual will be aggregating all their profiles and activities within numerous networks into their own network portal.  Thus creating the means for what we’re calling The Relationship Economy.

This shift will be significant and disruptive and turning researchers and media on their heads.  Individual allegiance moves away from portals, firms and toward networks and network platforms where individuals create collective affinities.  What seems obvious to those outside an existing system is not seen by those within existing systems.  Systemic change comes from the outside and it is the individual who has been left out of established systems.

What say you?