memecon.info

The path to the public has always begun with the authors. They develop ideas and take the time to create an article. In the past, implementation was very much a division of labor. Authors wrote texts. Illustrators designed the pictures. Layout designers determined the page structure. Proofreaders corrected the texts. Censors ensured compliance. The printers sat the pages – or refused, if they did not like the content. The machine operators produced the print runs. At the end, the articles in a book, a newspaper or on a poster were distributed in various ways to the readers. Editors published the whole. With the new public, everyone, who has access to the Internet, has the opportunity to spread its ideas.

On the way to the public, everyone takes care by themselves of all the aspects mentioned – creation, correction, censorship and delivery. This, the fourth estate gets shaken. Is this already the end? The established media is facing one of the biggest disruptions since the invention of book printing. Today’s authors can master all known media on their own.

Internet domain
Since it is no longer necessary to program an Internet site, because generators of all kinds bring multimedia content cost-effectively into the Internet, everybody can afford its own domain – such as http://memecon.com . Actually, what is the forerunner of an Internet domain?
Social networks
Facebook, Linkedin, Xing and the many other social networks offer the possibility to create personalized pages and being that way accessible via multimedia. The forerunners of social networks were associations, clubs and other communities, do not have by far the reach of today’s platforms.
Video platforms
The moving image used to be distributed by TV stations. Today, everyone can open a personal channel and broadcast videos. The offers, which go on air via YouTube and vimeo, Dailymotion or alugha, deliver ever better content. The forerunners, the television stations, are only just under 100 years old.
Podcast Channels
Podcasts are evolving, which broadcast via stations such as iTunes, Stitcher, acast or others as successor of the radio. The topic-oriented “broadcasts” lead to a new listening behavior. And this, after the predecessors, the radio stations, are only around 100 years old.
Print on demand
And even the classic publication on paper can be done today by anyone – with an ISBN number you are represented in the relevant sales channels, e.g. Amazon, https://isbnsearch.org/. This means that an established medium that has been around for almost 600 years is available to everyone.

The impacts on the established channels are not yet foreseeable. However, the media are already starting to think about how to adapt their business model. The first controversies already happened between the existing media. Just think of the daily papers that are suing the app providers of news channels in Germany. Or the dispute with the search engines that display excerpts of content, which, given the current speed of use, result in the fact that former subscribers save money because the abstracts already fit their needs. All partners of the established media, i.e. the advertising industry, the traders or football clubs, are also affected. The access to their customers is shifting. And the old indicators of publicity get lost. Once consumers’ attention has moved away from the fourth estate, it will be difficult to win them back.

Beyond that, the established media seems to regard themselves as systemically relevant, pointing out their independency, their expertise and public mandate. However, one must ask oneself whether a medium is able to live up to this claim – with coverage of an event in Syria that is done from the balcony of a hotel in Cairo, Egypt. In the end, every form of reporting is a filter – regardless of whether it withholds deliberately or unintentionally. It becomes even more difficult, if the classical relations are questioned – if for example a spectator makes an exciting Podcast of a football game; or a traveler reports from an unreachable crisis region; or the advertising industry throws itself on the influencers and creates thereby new rules in marketing.

Of course, the content of the new public lacks at this early stage established bodies that ensure the quality of the posts. That way, opinions can become facts and facts can become fake news. Due to the speed with which the Internet tsunami pours out, it is a little late to convey the necessary skills – but better late than never. However, it would be wrong to disparage or even prevent these developments. The society must take care to incorporate the appropriate media competence into school curricula – unfortunately this is being thwarted by some brain researchers, who condemn the new media.

Bottom line: To a certain extent, the media landscape has become more democratic. Everyone can participate and send their content into the world. The resulting noise fragments society. The classic block busters will disappear. The social character of jointly receiving information disappears. Every consumer gets exactly what he wants, what can differ dramatically from its neighbor. Until we have learned an appropriate ethics of news, information or publication, we will have to live with those who exploit the new freedom and bombard the world with false reports. The new public remains an unresolved challenge for the time being.

Regularly we buy eggs, which were hopefully laid by happy chickens. And sometimes the egg is used, in order to let hatch out another happy chicken. Actually the cycle of laying and hatching is turning without interruption. If you would like to go back to the beginning of this cycle, it is hard to define the starting point. Apart from religions that simply answer this question with a creator, a logical starting point is missing. An egg is laid by a chicken, which, in turn, slips out of an egg. Thus, chicken-and-egg is an ideal metaphor for unclear causes and effects.

Actually the chicken-and- egg problem is solved – in the beginning was the egg (John Brookfield). This is valid, if you accept the argumentation of John Brookfield that the genetic make-up of an animal does not change during lifetime. The change from the nonchicken to the chicken can only happen in the egg. And anyway, eggs existed a long time before the chickens. Let’s transfer the problem to our everyday life.

E-Mobility
Electric cars are not bought yet, because there are not sufficient charging stations. As long as there are not sufficient charging stations, electric cars are not bought. What comes first? The politicians believe the electric cars and therefore want to subsidize the purchase. If you consider the metaphor, another approach would be to install NATIONWIDE at the existing gas stations charging possibilities (of course as well as EVERYWHERE else) – in the beginning are the loading stations.
Social Networks
A social net offers advantages for the users, as soon as the right number of contents is available. However contents are only sufficiently shared, when the necessary number of users is connected. What comes first? The providers of the social nets avoid this dilemma by concentrating on the programming of the platform. They hope that an interesting platform lead to appropriate numbers of users, who will also provide contents. If you consider the metaphor, everything starts with the contents available. For this reason a sufficient number of articles should be provided in the beginning, so that the user numbers pass quickly the tipping point. Afterwards the contents of the users will lead to additional users – in the beginning the real focus are the contents.
New businesses
New shops are opened up, if sufficient customers are available. However, customers are only won, if the business offers its deliverables. What comes first? If you consider the metaphor, the market is defined by companies that offer their products and services. Namely before the first customer can go to the shop. Therefore you cannot avoid launching an affair with the faith that sufficient customers will buy the deliverables. The success of the trade will be seen subsequently – in the beginning stands the launching of the firm.
Families with children
Two lifetime partner want to have children, as soon as they can afford it. But they believe that they can only afford children, if somebody takes care of the children. What comes first? If you consider the metaphor, then families of different incomes always had children. The desire for having children results in a dramatic break-down of the family income on the one hand because one partner stops working for taking care of the children or because of the cost for the childcare. For this reason the family starts with the first child, since thereby the requirements adapt automatically to the new conditions – in the beginning are the children.

Bottom line: This metaphor helps finding solutions more easily for some of the chicken-and-egg problems. Fundamental changes always mean change from one into another condition. When deciding on the best solution the look at the history of the two alternatives helps, since changes have always similar forerunners. That way you find the smartest solution. The chicken-and-egg problem is the ideal metaphor for unclear causes and effects.