There are a number of things making a confluence in the streamed distribution of media these days that really matter to the future of artistic expression through filmed stories. What a mouthful.
My Word® program did not like that sentence and it told me so with green underlining. What happens when a computer program recognizes something that doesn’t fit its expectations? In the surprising wisdom of Microsoft® land, green underlining, in the world of Social Media, well, it just doesn’t show up.
If we let information pass through our Facebook Newsfeed without comment it simply stops appearing. By this process of elimination, eventually, all the users see are what the users find agreeable or worthy of comment. What could the benefit be for corralling our tastes this way? Simple answer: Advertising. However, this frankly undoes the benefits of social interaction. What we get is groups of people who indentify with similar notions that never face much disagreement.
Suddenly what we have is a flat drama, and isolation. Rather than encouraging a marketplace of ideas, it creates a narrow aggregate of purpose. For instance, if I “Like” enough dance discussions on Facebook, all I’ll see in short order are dance discussions. I might even be fooled into believing that everyone I know loves dance as much as I do, and that we all agree about its importance. This method can narrow and narrow our worldview without us even realizing that we have capitulated by our very choices. Even if our friends share a post about something other than dance on their page, if we haven’t commented on their posts lately, it simply doesn’t show up.
YouTube makes suggestions, Google Ads advertises and Facebook sorts us. Aggregate schmaggregate. Do I really want to see only rom-coms, or action flicks? Do they think I’m stupid? Hmmmm. Apparently. Apparently, they’ve guessed that this is the business model that will work – force-feeding us a diet we didn’t even realize we chose. If they keep presenting us with films in the genre we like then, surely, we’ll click on them and prove their method, and then they’ll form a personal channel for us that we’ll pay for. There I go extrapolating again. Yes, of course, computers are getting quickly to the point where they can extrapolate our subtle choices into a personally aimed set of interactive programming and advertising that will somehow sell products, guarantee viewership and that can be withheld, post-addiction, until ransom is paid. This is, perhaps, the Promised Gig of the near future for most writers and artists.
It may seem crazy, but I make every effort to comment on the broadest passing of postings and websites that I can because I don’t want to be so narrowed that I forget the rest of the world exists. I enjoy having new opportunities all the time to see the world in a way that surprises me. In fact, I would be far more likely to pay for variety than I would be to pay for sameness. Without a moment to spare, in comes the amazing world of micropayments.
“For individual content creators, meanwhile, Flattr could create a “tip jar” that actually produces more than a trickle of virtual coins.” – Matthew Ingram, Gigaom.com
I revel in this fact: Independent Artists can make money again! Remember earlier in the week I said that we internet creators are as Mariachi bands at the “Town Share” and that we’d accept pesos on the way to that promised gig? Well, this is what I was hinting at. User Folks, you have entered the square and for a while now have had your fill of free music, films and funnies, but now it is time to show your appreciation for the work you really appreciate so that the artists, writers, singers, and filmmakers can get from day to day sharing their eclectic mix. Put a dollar in the virtual tip jar, please.
NOTICE TO ARTISTS: This “tip jar” is not a ticket! It is inspiration-based flow. Your job is to inspire, entertain, and be truthful. Isn't that why you wanted to be a filmmaker, screenwriter in the first place? We are returning to the time of the Bard. This time it is easier because we artists don’t have to sleep on the ground and carry around a harp, but it is harder because we are faceless entities that come out of a piece of technology that rests, in full ownership, in a person’s hand or on their lap. The recipients of our art cannot relate, necessarily, to the realness of us and our needs, the way a Bard’s audience could see his gaunt face. The person holding the technology has already paid a hefty lump sum just to own the stage we play on, and now we pass a virtual hat. Ouch, but really, we're artists and we have to do that in one way or another.
Oh, that may distress the shortsighted among us who were counting on our big Hollywood break, the million-dollar script sale and the single-card credit rolling down the silver screen. However, once again I ask you to look to ePublishing to recognize that this is not the end of the world. A book selling a million copies for $.99 with a 30-95% royalty rate is going to make a good living for its author. A short film that is tipped by a 100,000 users on YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook, anywhere from a penny to $20, is going to make a living. Being prolific helps, being the best of the best helps more, and so what are you waiting for? The longer you wait for someone else to have faith in your work without passing the tip jar, the longer you'll be temping, bar-tending, or working at a job you hate. Let's blow the user's mind and encourage them to participate by tipping us personally for our work!
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