The age of content Distraction, danger and dividend

The age of content

Distraction, danger and dividend

Me:

• Name: Bruno Jakić• MSc A.I.• (Online+Gaming) Entrepreneur• Founder of Ai Applied: automatic text analysis

and understanding• Author: history of technology lovers, check

out the book “Hacking Europe”

• If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today?

• I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.

• I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers.

A brief history of “content”• 1950’s: Newspapers, LP’s, 3 TV channels…

– Not called “content”, instead “news”, or “music”…

– Produced by rare, skilled professionals after years of training (limited access)

– Produced using analog tools– Disseminated through tightly controlled

channels– Generally local audiences, consuming at

leasure– Paid for by the audiences– Genuinely limited supply: scarcity

A brief history of “content”

• 1950’s: – Music studio cost: ~ US$ 500.000,- (in current money) [1]– 1 minute of real-time international communication (telephone

equipment could only be LEASED): ~ US$ 50,- per minute ( in current money) [2]

– Sending delayed information to another continent (mailing a letter): ~ US$ 1,- [2]

(1) The audio recording handbook, By Alan P. Kefauver, A-R Editions (April 2001)(2) Trends in Globalization, by World Trade Organization (2013)


• 1959: Jack Kilby invents the Integrated Circuit


• 1964 onwards: Mass production of IC• Moore’s Law

(3) Wgsimon, Wikipedia:


• 1990’s: digital production, 10s-100s of TV channels, early Internet– Produced by (abundant) professionals– Produced using digital tools (by professionals,

wide access)– Mostly disseminated through controlled

channels– (Sometimes artificially) limited supply– Increasingly globalized audiences, consuming

at leasure– Paid for, or “pirated” by the audiences, or

through large-scale advertising


• 1990’s: – Music studio cost: ~ US$ 50.000,- (in current money) [4]– 1 minute of real-time international communication

(telephone): ~ US$ 5,- per minute (in current money) [2]– Sending delayed information to another continent (e-

mail): ~ US$ 0,- [2]

(4) 25 Products That Changed Recording, Sound on Sound magazine (November 2010)


• ~ 2004: “Web 2.0”, “Social Media”, participatory content creation


• 2004-Now: The Internet, digital, personalized TV– Seen and called “content” by channel owners:

associations with bulk goods– Produced by (part-timing and abundant) professionals,

mostly by audiences / amateurs (universal access)– Mostly disseminated online– Almost unlimited supply: abundance– Globalized, massive audience, consuming in real-time– Paid for by advertising– Audiences are not the customers


• 2004-Now: – Music studio cost: ~ US$ 5.000,- [5]– 1 minute of real-time international communication (Skype):

~ US$ 0,- per minute [2]– Sending delayed information to another continent (e-mail): ~

US$ 0,- [2]– Contributions by the audience: ~US$ 0,- (+ tech costs)

(5) Warbeats.com (November 2013)

The age of content: paradigm shift

• Paradigm-shift in economic value of content• 90% of the world’s data in 2013 (about 4,5

zetaBytes) – created since early human civilization - was created in the two years prior [6]

• Significant amount of this data consists of customer-generated content [6]

• A lot of content, on its own = ~low value

(6) Big Data, for better or worse: 90% of world's data generated over last two years, Science Daily (22nd of May, 2013)

The age of content: paradigm shift

• In case of content supply scarcity, value is in content: consumer = paying customer

• In case of content supply abundance, content is a means to an end: consumer ≠ paying customer

• Paying customers: millions of companies represented by advertising networks

The age of content: consumer as a commodity

Consumer is the product!

The age of content: dividend

• Consumer value:– Facebook: US$ 128,- [7] @ 1230 mil. users– Twitter: US$ 118,- [7] @ 255 mil. users– LinkedIn: US$ 84,- [7] @ 277 mil. users– Angry Birds: US$ 11,51 [8] @ 260 mil. users– Whatsapp: US$ 35,- [9] @ 450 mil. Users– Nu.nl (news): US$ 145,- [10] @ 1 mil. users

(7) You're Worth $128 On Facebook; Sorry About That LinkedIn Drop, Forbes (2014)(8) ThinkGaming (2014), MerchandiseReport (2014)(9) Acquisition by Facebook (2014)(10) Sanoma net sales 2014 (2014)


• Global online advertising yearly revenue (2013): ~US$ 117.000.000.000,- [11]


• Consumer value:– Direct spending– Advertising:

• Specific branding (US$1000+)• eCPM (US$ 0,01 to US$ 30,-)• CPC (US$ 0,01 to US$ 10,-)• Revenue-sharing (up to 30% of the purchase price)• Price based on specific user targeting

• Online advertising value depends on volume, time


• Increasing consumer value:– Get more consumers to view your content more

often for more time

• Vested interest of and proactive effort from content channels to attract and keep customers

The age of content: distraction

• Behavioral marketing (e.g. @ Stanford Business School since 2004) studies scientifically:– Decision making– Attitudes and persuasion– Social influence– Motivation– Cognition– Culture– Nonconscious behavior influences– Consumer neuroscience– Emotions


• Content marketing strategy:– Goals:

• Boost rankings for search-keywords• Establish domain authority• Establish brand authority on subject• Provide useful content for consumers

– Methods:• Link/click-baiting• Optimizing lay-out and colors of presentation• Adaptive writing style: articles not too long and not too short• When people are in, keep them in with “filler” and a few good

articles


• Link baiting:– Use infographics– Niche resource guides– Hyperbole/provocative imagery in titles– Question-answer statements in titles– Ego driven content– Negative content– Incentives


’I actually got pointed to a video that was on YouTube via Upworthy, that was originally just called "Zach Wahls Talks About His Family." Zach Wahls is a bloke from the states raised by two gay moms. And the video, which was quite a passionate testimony from him, got a million views. It was rebranded to be called "Two Lesbians Raised A Baby, And This Is What They Got." And with that headline, it got 17 million views.’ – Steve Hind, Link-baiter



The age of content: danger

• Domain authority ≠ domain knowledge– Consumers might be vastly under informed whilst thinking they

have gained full insights into a domain• Popularity , agreeability≠ truthfulness or correctness

– Consumers might be vastly misinformed leading to serious consequences

• Deemed useful by consumers ≠ desired– Consumers do not a-priori INTEND to engage with the content

out of their own volition– Consumers might spend inordinate amounts of time learning

about something they deem pleasant or useful, but which it practically is not


• Massive waste of time• Psychological distress and addiction• Catering to the lowest common denominator• Promoting lack of proper education• Knowledge becomes indeterminate,

indeterminable and ultimately, superfluous• Menace to society


• Time spent on content:


• Content marketing is also employed by “reputable” media sources as well, such as newspaper channels which already have long-established authority

• Crackpot theories presented as “scientific” are difficult to recognize.

• Every preconceived notion is supported somewhere, locking customers into their own bubble and out of the accepted reality


• Viral hypes with severe consequences: “vaccines cause autism”

• Recent outbreaks of meazles, polio whooping cough…


• Alternative medicine communities provide anectdotal reciprocal support despite unproven efficacy (with deadly consequences).


• News outlets: less and less journalism, more and more articles

• Nu.nl:

(12) Ai Applied/ Jelle Boumans Phd dissertation (2014)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Articles/Journalist (indexed to 1402)Parrot-index

The age of content: solutions

• Age of contènt → Age of contént?


• Currently, content channel owners have a vested interest to PUSH content onto everyone, all the time, for as long as possible. Quantities matter.

• Profitable because advertisers can reach a large ROI; small advertising budgets work miracles if they reach the RIGHT people.

• Only profitable because of precise targeting of advertisements.


• The solution: deny advertising networks your personal information

• Without precise targeting, ROI declines. Advertising as it is happens is no longer feasible.

• Content channel owners will have vested interest in cultivating a community, rather than wasting your time (as with TV in the 90s).

The age of content: solutions - now

• Think about what you’ve heard today• Use false data on social networks (for now)• Browsing privacy protection tools:

– Disconnect– Privacy Badger– NoScript

• Private operating systems:– Tails Linux (formerly Amnesia)

• Anonymous/dark net:– TOR– Anomos

The age of content: solutions - future

• “Pay me, Facebook”• Freedom box• Networks of trust

• To succeed widely, must have a business model

• Community-operated ad networks?

A brief future of “content”?

• 2024: – Music studio cost: ~ US$ -1000,-– 1 minute of real-time international communication

(QuantumMessenger): ~ US$ -1,- per minute– Sending delayed information to another continent

(ContentNet): ~ US$ -1,- [2]

(5) Warbeats.com (November 2013)

The age of content: solutions - paramount

EDUCATION

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The age of content Distraction, danger and dividend