Jkander's Blog

Mission #6: Discuss “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson | October 25, 2009

It was not too long ago when those that didn’t follow the mainstream crowd were labeled something less-than pleasant. Think “loner”, “looser”, “emo”, “goth”….

Do those words conjure a vivid image of someone who wears eyeliner and listens to mopey music alone in their bedroom? Probably.

Previously, these groups would have been ostracized or would have been the butt of countless jokes. However, now, these groups and many, many others are an important facet of society and directly inform what products and services are offered.

By separating out groups with various interests, the “mainstream” has become far less black and white. “Popular” is a now a relative term in each aspect of society.

The book, The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson examines how our economy (and culture) is shifting from mass markets to millions of niches. This paves the way for you to break through the clutter and find what you are looking for, regardless of how specialized your interest is.

I think the most important section in this book is how the long tail affects the niche market. The consumer world as we know it can no longer be only defined by the mainstream.

The medium by which I am writing now—a blog—is a perfect example of niche media at work. With the power of blogs and other social media applications, everyone can be an author. Better yet, everyone has a voice. To find out news about a current event or even your favorite type of music, you don’t necessarily have to watch mainstream CNN or download a song on ITune’s top 10 song list. Instead, you can find something that appeals to you and some of your closest, like-minded friends (friends that you never knew existed).

This notion brings us to what I liken to the “Small World” phenomenon—it’s a small world when you can find someone with your interest even if it’s highly specialized.

Mass culture was previously glued together by certain ideas, products, services etc. Those interests kept everyone together on a like-minded wavelength. The Long Tail suggests that society is more complicated than what was previously thought. There are so many different people out there who each have their own interests, niches, etc. This book suggests that society has the possibility to become “unhinged” since everyone is focused on doing their own thing. While I find it liberating to know that just because I like to do something—like make independent movies—there are probably pockets of people all over the world that share similar interests. I disagree with the “worst-case” scenario that this book illustrates. Rather than becoming “unhinged” I believe that society still has a tendency to follow what is considered popular or trendy.

I believe the whole concept behind viral videos perfectly illustrates this notion. Who hasn’t seen the wedding in which the bride and groom dance down the aisle? I can say with confidence that me, my mom, my best friend, even my best friend’s grandma has seen that video. All of the people that I just mentioned fall at different places on the long tail but are still aware of what is happening in mainstream society to a certain extent.

In this book, one of the concepts that I like most is the notion of the virtual watercooler. Personally, I find this to be true. Everyone can relate to the image of coming into work on Monday morning and gathering around the watercooler to talk about what happened over the weekend or at the very least what happened on HBO the previous night. It only makes sense that as society continues to have more options technologically speaking, that would inform how we relate to each other virtually. Personally, my “communities” are highly virtual, especially since my boyfriend lives in Dublin, Ireland and my best friend moved to Texas. If it weren’t for Skype, Facebook, etc. we wouldn’t talk nearly as much…and the cost would be double.

This concept is applicable to my company, Pixar. Especially since the Pixar brand is comprised of numerous digital images, it makes sense that Pixar has a strong digital community and therefore can use many sources and tools to appeal to its customers all along the long tail. As the book describes, there is “infinite shelf space” in this ever-growing digital world. Therefore, with more customers and “infinite” space, new technologies help a company like Pixar appeal to the millions of niches that are out there.