Danah Boyd talks about streams of Information

Danah’s talks and articles are often fascinating, and this one on future information consumption trends is no exception.

I’ve often thought about the money-making strategy sites such as Facebook could use, and have come to the conclusion that advertising just doesn’t work well in these cases: the adverts are not being presented at a time when users are receptive to them (compare with search-based advertising). Danah points out this problem isn’t a new one, however:

Figuring out how to monetize sociality is a problem. And not one new to the Internet. Think about how we monetize sociality in physical spaces. Typically, it involves second-order consumption of calories. Venues provide a space for social interaction to occur and we are expected to consume to pay rent. Restaurants, bars, cafes… they all survive on this model. But we have yet to find the digital equivalent of alcohol.