I took up a consumer education course during undergrad and one of the required readings was The Third Wave, where Alvin Toffler talks on the prosumer,

essentialy a cross between the producer and the consumer.  In this

economic model the book talks about, the individuals and groups of

individuals have an increasing

independence from the mainstream economiy, i.e. the command-and-control

models exemplified by powerful firms.  They are themselves

creators of what they consume, in one way or another.  Or at the

very least, they have the power to influence what the firms produce.


Businessweek’s June 20 cover story, The Power Of Us,

discusses how “mass collaboration on the Internet is shaking up

business.”  Steve Rubel has quite a good summary, in the form of

10 Commandments for The Era of Participatory Public Relations.


We are living in an era where the public is increasingly calling the shots.


We are increasingly becoming an economy of the people, for the people, by the people.


And it’s just another benefit of technological developments and trends.  IMHO, one of the more profound benefits.


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