People formally Known as the Audience

Jay Rosen has a piece about the changing balance of power from media to all.

The people formerly known as the audience wish to inform media people of our existence, and of a shift in power that goes with the platform shift you’ve all heard about.

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You don’t own the eyeballs. You don’t own the press, which is now divided into pro and amateur zones. You don’t control production on the new platform, which isn’t one-way. There’s a new balance of power between you and us.

The people formerly known as the audience are simply the public made realer, less fictional, more able, less predictable. You should welcome that, media people. But whether you do or not we want you to know we’re here.

There are two elements at play in this change – wanting to create, to take and mix and drive new content and wanting to watch and participate at a time of choice. People may want to do both or one, but no longer are they passive consumers waiting to be fed by the media machine on the terms of the media machine.

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