consumers are one dimensional

Best line in anyone’s blog this morning - Marketing Begins At Home

"You know there was a publicist in the back of the room saying “Take him out. I repeat. Take him out” to a sharpshooter on an ear radio somewhere."

concur dave - a great line from mary...

but in the same post she also went into the "what to call folks that interact w/ a blog, site, product, application etc"...

doc and others have been against the term "consumer" for awhile now, i've always assumed because it implies a single direction - big media talking to folks that consume what they've produced w/out  their ability to be a part of the story...

in i.t. the term "user"  has been somewhat negative for decades - so i've never been comfortable substituting it for consumer...

but you've got to be able to call folks that read, watch, listen, comment, trackback, interact w/ "something" you've created by some recognizable name - also heard we shouldn't be calling it "content" - i personally like "media" but not as in "mass media" but that's just me...

this is so complex sometimes - getting hung-up on the words we use takes away from the ultimate concept we're trying to communicate...

we are all potential active "creators" but we are also sometimes only a passive "audience" - what should we call each other, whether we chose to interact or not?

maybe the concept that we all are participants in any media created is the way to go, or should it be that we are all potential collaborators?

what about the concept of "parties" or "guilds" used w/in mmorpg's?

you know what - i think i like the term companion best, after all these are folks just like me reacting to my media just like i react to theirs - we comment, we trackback, we mashup, we enjoy or hate but we do something along a similar path - and we are interactive just as if we were walking down a path in the woods talking as we go...

of course, what's right for me certainly may not be right for you - but if you truly are one of my companions, friends, amigos on the path i'm sure you'll tell me a better term ;)

Comments

[Rob S]

This one comes just in time. I've been struggling with this since I got into video. First I called them subscribers. Then I called them listeners. And when I (and many others) moved to video I started calling the people who were subscribing podcast consumers.

None of those words really do the audience justice because it is truly interactive. I listen to the feedback and that helps me to create better shows. So I'm going to try the word companion for a little while.

Sting was right on when he sang, "da doo doo doo, da da da da" because sometimes the right words are hard to find.

[Valorie Luther]

Mike Dunn- David Parmet says you are a podcasting guru...would love to talk to you about the social media conference in June in Stamford! It is very unique, especially for CT.
Thanks. Valorie