About eight weeks ago, I announced on my podcast, Griddlecakes Radio, that I’d be discontinuing its regular programming schedule. I’d been producing the show since August of 2005, and was really having a hard time meeting the demands of producing a show every other week. Independent of why I decided to slow down production of the show, I learned an interesting lesson about New Media — something that you, the New Media Evangelist in your company needs to understand before you start producing content.
A long time ago, in the years BP (Before Podcasting circa 2004), the barrier to entry for delivering audio/video content to a large audience was prohibitively expensive. We’re talking millions. But in the years AP, the barrier to entry plummeted, opening up new opportunities for Rich Media Content Creators (RMCC).
Since that time, the ranks of the RMCC has exploded, from independents working in spare bedrooms, to kids recording video with their cell phones and uploading them to YouTube. Then a funny thing happened on the way to the office. A new “dynamic” was formed between RMCCs and audience members — something that I just experienced almost eight weeks ago — “fame.”
I was explaining the phenomenon to a friend of mine. I said, “Look, you know me, ‘Ron.’ But my listeners, those who hear my voice every other week, they know someone else — ‘The Ron,’ a voice that is piped into their headphones on a regular basis. The fact that they hear this voice periodically gives them a false sense of familiarity with me.”
Well, this perceived familiarity gives some listeners the freedom to say things that they normally wouldn’t to a complete stranger. Here’s an example from my own experience.
Take a couple thousand Griddlecakes Radio Listeners, who think they know me on a personal level and tell them that their constant stream of access to me is going to be interrupted.
Wanna see what happened? Checkout the comments from that show, Transitions. And this is only a snippet. Some of the emails that I got were brutal.
Technologies are a wonderful thing. And technologies that change the dynamics between humans are fascinating. We’re way too early in this change to fully understand the impact of it, however, we can be mindful of it.
The bad news is that your listener feels that they have the right to tell you anything. The good news is that your listener cares so much about what you have to say, that they are compelled to tell you.
Sure sounds like “Influence” to me.
