The Lunatic Fringe Model and the Shifting Influence of Web 2.0

There is a shift happening out there. It’s happening quicker than you think, it’s happening right now and it’s happening to your audience.

The shift I am referring to, is the way in which the general public consume their media. The traditional model (figure 1 below) is a centralised model where all content consumed by audiences is controlled by a small minority and a few platforms i.e. radio, TV, newspapers, magazine and the old style web (1.0). This also meant that they controlled the direction of influence which is represented by the arrows below.

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Figure 2 is the content model after the advent of Web 2.0 that I have called the ‘Lunatic Fringe Model', mainly to grab attention but also to draw to the fact that content movement now sits on the fringes of the model, within your audience, being passed from one friend to another and bypassing the traditional media that you are spending so much money on.

"62% of the content consumed by people born after 1980 is created by someone they know"

This also turns the ‘influence arrows’ around placing it squarely on the shoulders of the consumers as they decide where, how and from whom they get their information. In fact Shel Holtz, a respected new media practitioner, states that 62% of the content consumed by people born after 1980 is created by someone they know [and therefore not necessarily where you are currently focussing your efforts], for example, reading friend's profiles on Facebook or reading a blog of someone they met online.

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So what’s changing because of this then?

· Advertising is heading for an identity crisis. Because the user now controls the influence more than ever and they don’t want to see adverts, pain and simple!

· Online reputation management is a must.

· Ultra-niches, means that your audience is split up into much smaller groups so you need to figure out different ways to reach them.

· There is an over supply of information online, therefore your brand needs to know how to cut through the noise.

· Journalists now spend a lot of time in this space picking up stories so they need to be approached in this space as well.

· Remember that the influence has shifted to the consumer so tread lightly. Don’t force your brand on your consumers, don’t lie, be aggressive, dictate or patronise. If you do, they will tear you to pieces online.

How does this affect your business?

There are going to be companies out there that ignore this shifting paradigm and don’t believe that their business will be affected, partly because of ignorance and partly because of fear of the unknown, but as more evidence surfaces, the argument becomes stronger to focus on this changing realm. Don’t be this company, don’t be caught with your pants down.

Here are some of the things you can do to engage this new audience:

· Start with a bit of buzz monitoring, we use Radian 6 and see what and how much is being spoken about your brand online.

· Seriously think about starting a blog to add to your website. This can become the launch platform for your online reputation management.

· Start using Social Media Press Releases immediately. You’re sending out press releases at the moment anyway so why not upgrade them and send them through the same, and many more, channels naturally increasing the reach of your press release.

· Definitely speak to a specialist in the industry before trying your hand at it as there are many unwritten rules you need to know about.