Everyone is a Producer! Everyone is a Star! The power of Web 2.0

Have you heard about Tila Tequila? I am sure those of who frequent MySpace have probably passed by this young lady who is becoming a known figure in modeling and singing. She did do some modeling jobs “here and there”, But her big break came three years ago when MySpace founder Tom Anderson invited Nguyen over to his new site. She is even featured in the TIME magazine issue of Dec 16th, 2006

“Over the next couple of years she turned her online persona into a full-fledged business."This is my job," she says. "That's how you maintain your popularity and keep it alive."” Now, she boasts more than 1.7 million friends on her MySpace profile! She has her own fashion line now!

The story of Tila is not an isolated one, as there are many people who became known film makers or writers and many more who will be under the lime light.

Just now I understand what Marshall McLuhan has said longtime ago that “medium is the message” and “audience is the content”, which does not need any explanation now as we are witnessing how the Web is making a difference as a communication medium and how we, as audience, are fueling the Web with our own creations.

So what is going to happen next?
Let me caught Marshall McLuhan again in his saying “if it works, it is obsolete”! So the current abilities and tools of today are soon to be out of sufficiency as people will demand more and be supplied with more.

Here is what I foresee:
1. More people will be contributing with their content in blogs, media, and “digs”.
2. Majority will not be able to sustain the drive of creations and will fall off the curve.
3. The few who will stay in the game will have a good chance of “commercializing” themselves. Already, we see video sites paying top hitters or sharing revenue. The relationship will be more professional.
4. There will be added-value services to “manipulate” content as in providing online mixing of videos (check eyespot.)
5. There will be “agent” services to check on the “creations” of people of various sources (photos posted, videos watched, or blogs written) and determine if a person is a good employee, suitable partner or a security threat.
6. We will see “hyper” sites that provide aggregation of content, access and subscription to various services.

What do we need to do?
My simple suggestions:
1. Experimentation – try out the different things that you can do online. Start a blog, upload a few pictures or videos. Use that as a learning experience of your own interests and creativity.
2. Moderation – it is easy to get sucked in this world. Watch out the time you spend online and be disciplined at the amount of time you spend online. Perhaps dedicate certain times for your online contribution. There is a real life out there!
3. Self-regulation – Always know that whatever you do online will be (or is) being watched by someone and assess what would that could mean a few years down the road.
4. Enjoy is as another channel of self-enriching source