So now these social networking platforms have enabled people to communicate and to connect and find peers and people with similar interests. This also has allowed - amongst others - media companies to reposition themselves, to play between these relationships and to add messages or to communicate other things that are of interest or value. Not being in this very passive mode where people are simply consuming media.

MO: You know, you mentioned two things there that I can pick up on, and that is, that it is between people, and people who are similar I suppose. I get from that, that it’s between peers, and therefore I would imagine there would be some kind of a shared repertoire, at least some kind of a common ground would be necessary. That makes me think, and it’s something that I’d like to explore perhaps at a later point.

But you also mentioned the companies, and how they are placing themselves, positioning themselves strategically in these connecting spaces. And they are perhaps also monitoring the spaces, monitoring our conversations?

You mentioned this monitoring of the web in your speech in Sydney, and how companies keep track of our conversations, especially the lead consumers. So I would like to ask you who are the lead consumers and why are companies monitoring them?

RD: The idea of the innovation curve is that there are leaders who are the first ones to take up a new technology or way of working or thinking, and then you get the followers and finally you get the bulk of people to take on the innovation. So it’s very important for any organisation, be they commercial or government, to understand where the lead people are, the people who are first experimenting with and exploring and taking on new technologies, because they are the vanguard. It doesn’t mean that everything they do is necessarily what everyone else will do in the future, but these are the people who are the most influential.

The original ideas were proposed in the classic book Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers. It explores the idea of how innovation, new ways of doing things, or new concepts diffuse through society. This is based on particular people, their behaviours and the way they communicate to others about what they are doing.

So in any successful innovation being taken up, there are always leaders who perceive it, see the value, proselytise and tell other people that there is value there. Thus it is critical, not just to access these lead consumers, but also to understand what they are engaged with. They are not just signalling where things are going, they are also highly influential.

These kinds of people are not ones you can readily influence yourself. Their independence of mind is part of what characterises them, yet if you’ve got something that is worthwhile, then these are the people who you can expect will take up new ideas.

MO: Yes, it is a very interesting thought, that there is perhaps almost a kind of cognoscenti out there. I don’t know if you would choose to use that word? But that there are leading conversations going on and that there are perhaps only a select few, again, I don’t know if you’d say there were a select few who are leading these, but certainly I think it’s possibly the same people. Would you say that there are certain select people who are leading these and can one pinpoint them?

Page 3 of 6 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | Next