A recent New York Times article called 2006 the “Year of Self Expression.” If you refer to an entry from last week, I discuss this trend of user-generated content (“UGC”) as it relates to news. In the Times article, it relates to media moguls snatching up all of the UGC outlets as this trend grows.
Google bought Blogger. Microsoft bought Friendster. NewsCorp bought MySpace. Google bought YouTube and made an offer to Facebook. It seems that “success” for one of these UGC outlets is being redefined. Now, the best thing that can happen is to be bought out for $1.65 billion, and after you contributed absolutely none of the content.
Sure sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme to me. But it’s working. And it’s only the beginning.