In the late '90s this book created a stir by suggesting that the Internet was more like an old-fashioned Middle East bazaar than it was the subserviant tool of big business - where people would swap stories, buy bizarre items and behave in ways that took their fancy rather than adhere to any convenient and logical norms.
How damn right they were. A quick squizz at Google's Insights for Search in 2007 shows that the most popular search terms in the UK were 'BBC', 'games' and 'eBay'. In France it's 'games', 'video' and 'yellow pages'. In Sweden it's 'lyrics', 'download' and 'youtube'.
Who could have predicted this type of randomness (unless you're predicting 'randomness' to begin with)?
Regardless of what the reasons for the national differences might be, it does suggest the need for a less conventional, straight-laced and Victorian way in which brands should conduct themsleves online.
And digital agencies, as the frequent producers of brands' digital presences, might want to order themselves in a way that reflects what people want from digital media. One suggestion I stumbled across today (which I quite like) was that there should be three main functions within such agencies: storytellers, designers and technologists.
What would this change? Well, planning and copy tasks could be conflated. Designers are sort of there already, but in the absence of data and IA functions they'd need to get to grips with visitor pathways and heatmaps. Technologists: well, if they could share their views of the future in non-binary forms of communication that would be splendid.
Just a thought...
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