One thing that I strongly feel is that I absolutely LOVE THE INTERNET. There is nothing that makes me feel otherwise about it even if there are some doubts about privacy and security. Here is how I imagine the future to be
It's the year 2025, you wake up, you are still in your bed, you open your newsletters you read some you skip some you post highlights from some in your centralised social media account – all social media platforms have been merged all accounts are synced at all times.
You have one digital identity, one digital footprint. All data is meticulously connected and stored, every single like and comment you make can be traced back to you within milliseconds. There is no such thing as trolling or cyber-bullying but at the same time there is no such thing as digital privacy. Ads on this central social media platform are also quite vivid, you don’t see any unnecessary ads, you don’t see any irrelevant content, every piece of content is unique and gets customised according to the user’s previous data and preference. Each video, text, audio, is hyperlinked to its creator and its source. There is no plagiarism or falsification of data, there is no mis-information, everything at all times is linked to its credible source. Content creators, strategists, developers, media planners are now top of the economic chain, artists are no longer deemed unnecessary components of society, there is high demand for content- be it music, or drama, or text, or art. But the ecosystem is highly competitive, certain big media conglomerates have monopolised the distribution and creation of media, and to be recognised one has to work under these media giants to ensure their work reaches millions through social media.
No one reads newspapers; people read newsletters. Politicians, executives, celebrities, everyone issues their own newsletter which is only viewed by people who have subscribed for it. Television has lost its relevance, there are no mass produced and consumed shows. OTT streaming platforms are the most in demand service, its highly democratised, if you want you can produce and release your own show or movie, its as easy as opening a gmail account, its all automated, you choose your scriptwriters, your directors, your actors, and you fill in the basic outline of the story you have in mind. Within a day or two, you have your unique piece of content ready and available on a platform viewed by millions. But because it is highly saturated the OTT platforms are fully pay oriented, you pay for the show you want to watch, there are no uniform subscription rates or monthly memberships. Shows in one language are instantly translated to all other languages with. Art is truly universal, any one and everyone can access anything and everything. But in the process of digital translation and automated dialogue production the true essence of a language is lost, music is no longer as appealing as it used to be.
You get up from your bed, enter your kitchen and you open the faucet, water comes gushing out, the metre starts showing you the amount of water ration left for the day. You turn it off, and you tell ShamSher, your new digital assistant to pay the water and air bills, and to purchase the premium package of lead free air for the next month, your asthma is worse than usual, maybe it's the air.
ShamSher reminds you, that the following Saturday you have the license to go out, you put a story on your social media asking people from your circle if anyone has a license on the same day, apparently no one does. So you decide to give up the license for that week and re apply for Sunday afternoon. The covid crisis of 2020 had revolutionised work culture forever. The concept of public spaces and gatherings has vague resemblances, but are no longer a reality of anyone’s lives.
You check your virtual calendar, you have a light day today, only about 14 hours of screen-time, you get up and start downloading your virtual workstation for the day.
In an hour you have a meeting scheduled with the director of the company which will happen through augmented reality (AR), you can't find your 3d glasses and your international digital ID which you need to login to the AR space. You ask ShamSher, your new digital assistant, and he reminds you of your password. You login and wait for the meeting to begin.
I was in conversation with Anirudh Singla for this week’s podcast, and that conversation provided me with some unique insights so I will be talking about those here.
As I have already discussed in my earlier newsletter, that the future of content creation will be driven by the passion economy. But will that trend be uniformly spread throughout the world?
No, if you are someone who is a part of the creative ecosystem, you must be already aware of the work culture in India. The gig economy is at its peak in India, and it's not going to vanish anytime soon. India accounts for 50% of all influencers in the World.
Then what is the change that we are likely to see in the coming years?
Well, I bear good news for you, the next few years are going to be the golden age for content, be it media or text-oriented, the demand for content is going escalate to the extent that in the words of Anirudh, “ every company is going to be a content company”. What he means by that brands are no longer blindly promoting their content; they are creating communities which will, in turn, drive up their sales. And to forge connections, to engage and interact you need content. And the bar for quality content is much higher than before, brands are no longer restricting themselves to in house content, they are upscaling. Similarly given the digital acceleration brought down by covid-19, people have a greater appetite to consume content and respond to it. So independent content creators are likely to face steep competition but will also get an opportunity to build up their brand swiftly and uniquely.
Another big change that’s likely to knock on our doors very soon, is the rise of on-demand content. Like you book Uber or Ola whenever wherever you will be able to demand content according to your preferences. It is also likely that we may have chrome extensions like Grammarly, that will write and modify our content for us instantly.
From the perspective of a creator, it will be a much more vibrant atmosphere, every individual freelancer already is and will be identified as an entrepreneur managing their brand value delivering to their audience. The metrics of measuring a creator's work will change too, it will no longer be published links rather reach in terms of followers and quality and consistency.
You can even listen to these past episodes from #WhenWeMetPodcast
Another video that will strengthen your thoughts about this is by Jack Conte who is the Co-Founder of Patreon
Creators, we are on the verge of the Second Renaissance of the arts making this is the best time in history to be an artist. The internet is just over 30 years old and it has revolutionised the way we live, although it hasn’t affected everyone in the same way. But things are changing and this is going to be huge for artists.
Adding some interesting research results that multiple organisations have done from around the world. These are not interlinked to each other but different quotes and graphs from multiple sources.
“Digital music consumption evolved fast from a piece meal consumption model in the form of ring-tones and ring backs onto downloads, and now onto streaming and subscription - reflecting today's consumer reality that rental of music via streaming / subscriptions trumps the ownership of music v/s downloads.” - Mandar Thakur, COO, Times Music
Indian Content Creators and Digital AtmaNirbharta - Ashutosh Harbola, Co-founder & CEO of influencer marketing platform Buzzoka says, “It’s a snowball effect. What one will lose, the other will capture very quickly. The important question to ask is, ‘Has the market matured?’ The answer is yes. TikTok has given a big push for that market to mature, and if any player enters now, it’s a great market opportunity to capture a huge user-base.”
The last thing in this newsletter is going to be about our first virtual community discussion scheduled for 29th November, 5 PM IST.
'What young India doesn’t understand about Politics?’ an unfiltered one hour chat with Shweta Shalini who has worked on 2014 and 2019 General Elections and is also a Policy Expert.
This will be our first community discussion and I will share more details about this in the coming days but for now just mark your calendars for 29th November, 5 PM IST.
If you want to know more about Shweta Shalini, just check her on Twitter or check the below video
Take care folks, hope you all are doing well. I am up for a conversation if you all want to talk about this newsletter content, just feel free to reply to this post.
You can also find me on Instagram @pawan_rochwani
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