The Theory of the Long Tail, in my opinion, is a theory that very accurately describes our economy and culture’s shift from mass media to a more specialize media market. According to the textbook, our economy is shifting away from a small number of hits at the head of a market, to a much bigger number of hits in the “tail” of the market. In other words, the focus is not on one large mass media audience, but on numerous smaller markets. According to the lecture on Thursday January 26, 2012, what is considered a hit show today would be labeled a flop 20 years ago. The reason being, television shows today are targeting specific niche markets, not just one large mass media market. The hundreds of television channels or the millions of songs on iTunes, allow distribution to focus on many niche audiences. Conclusively, the advances in our technologies are allowing consumers to have access to an array of niche content, thus expanding the long tail.
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I never really thought about the television market moving more toward niche audiences until I heard the class lecture that you cited. I was surprised to hear that shows that are “hits” right now have only a fraction of the viewership that hit shows had in the 80’s and earlier. I like that you also brought up music (iTunes). I love the access that we have to niche music because of the computer and the Internet. So much variety!
ReplyDeleteRenée Rendon
I appreciate that you discussed this aspect of the class. I believe it's important to understand the way in which we are being marketed to. This theory is extremely important in television, however it does expand to other technological mediums. It is interesting that the public is starting to be classified into different niches and that is how we are tailored to. I believe we will only continue to see different aspects of social media and other technology become more specialized and become more specific to our personal interests.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, it kind of all makes sense..for example, "I Love Lucy" was probably considered "Big Bang Theory" status back in the 1950/60s. I can see our generations hit shows like the Jersey Shore being a complete flop in not even 5 years. Even our music and book interests for this time will either be timeless or just drop off the face of the earth. Very good way of putting it.
ReplyDeleteHannah Sherlock