Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Death of a Meme
This excellent article in the SJ Mercury News chronicles the death by overdose of the 'Long Tail' concept.
Wired editor in chief Chris Anderson devised the term to explain how the Internet is creating profitable demand for stuff that wouldn't otherwise find a market. In his case, he focused on creative works, such as obscure forms of music or forgotten documentary films. That October 2004 article has since become the single most frequently cited piece in the San Francisco-based magazine's 12-year history.
And now, because "any popular explanatory framework will suffer a semantic death at the hands of marketers, promoters and other hucksters" the new meme "Just say `no' to bogus Long Tail pitches."
Wired editor in chief Chris Anderson devised the term to explain how the Internet is creating profitable demand for stuff that wouldn't otherwise find a market. In his case, he focused on creative works, such as obscure forms of music or forgotten documentary films. That October 2004 article has since become the single most frequently cited piece in the San Francisco-based magazine's 12-year history.
And now, because "any popular explanatory framework will suffer a semantic death at the hands of marketers, promoters and other hucksters" the new meme "Just say `no' to bogus Long Tail pitches."
