Illustration of Derek Powazek by Adam Ellis

Magazine Thinking: A Tale of Three Communities

One of the many gifts of our increasingly networked world is the diminishing boundaries between communities. And the magazine business is about to get hit by a boundary-blurring tidal wave.

It’s already started. What’s the difference between NBC and Joe Everynerd on MySpace or YouTube? They’re all just usernames – each with an equal chance of getting seen. The traditional roles of content creator and consumer have been irrevocably blurred.

Magazines, on the other hand, still have very high walls between their writers and readers. The writers and editors enjoy the illusion that they do something no one else can. The readers, then, have only one job: to consume the product.

But if the internet has taught us anything, it’s that the world is full of people who know a lot more than you do about something.

Continued at the 8020 blog. »


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Hi, I’m Derek. I used to make websites. Now I grow flowers and know things. I’m mostly harmless. More.