Emerging Structures

Kylie notes my comments about structure emerges through practice. This is one of the key ideas of networked media (in general and the subject). We don’t know what will become significant, whereas in old style media this was simpler. There were only three commercial TV networks in Australia. Each has to be incredibly important simply because of that. What was shown at any one time had to matter, in a significant way, to someone. The internet stuffs that up as it is a medium that can distribute any sort of media, in any old way (including ways not thought of yet), so rather than three commercial networks, where unless the government sold spectrum to allow a fourth, there is literally no possibility of adding another (putting aside the billions required to do this), we have a platform where anyone can produce and distribute media. And just because I’m small, doesn’t mean I can’t get an audience. Even sometimes, a big one. So what will come to matter emerges out of the network, not because there is a pre-existing structure that I get put into.