Casual vs. The Long Tail
March 23rd, 2009, By Duncan Gough
What’s the next big thing on the internet?
In one to two years? It could be anything – social, mobile, games, business, news, comics, films, etc
In five to ten years? It’ll easily be the reversal of online media onto print. Disposable, printable newspapers, forums, reviews, local gossip, etc.
However, the real excitement of the next few years is going to be the continuing conflict between the Casual and the Long Tail. Not so long ago, the Long Tail was the main meme on the internet. Companies showed off their Long Tail visions and how they catered to the niche. Now, it’s all about Casual. And Casual is mass market – make money in volume and swamp the market with clones and blandness. The Long Tail was all about making money from the vast numbers of internet users who are passionate about something. Betas for websites are all about creating passionate users, having their viral energy do the work for you. But the revenue comes from mass appeal.
Whilst this continues to be the case, then something is wrong on the internet.