YOU as VIP (you BIG shot, you).

It's official: YOU are a VIP. According to Time Magazine, the Users behind "User-Generated Content" were the most important event/persons of 2006. And if you pick up a copy of the magazine you'll get to see YOU on the cover (the cover has a mylar "mirror" so as to see your reflection in).

It's a pivotal moment to see a magazine that has boasted many presidents, philanthropists and visionaries in this annual top spot recognize the impact of a lot of "little guys" and, in so doing, relay that control is no longer in the hands of the few.

Here are a few paragraphs excerpted from the article (penned by one of my faves Lev Grossman):

"But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It's not even the overhyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution."

Folks, it's a revolution indeed--and revolutions are nothing if not messy. Even with this nod from major media, corporations will continue to have a bugger of a time ceding control to consumers and many (evil) marketers will still try to rig the system. But with a major media outlet giving this sea change its due look for a lot of companies to begin looking to us to navigate these uncharted waters. What a great time to be alive...and what a terrific time to be a marketer, eh?

P.S.: For the record, I always knew YOU were a BIG shot. But now more of the world will :-).

Comments

[David Reich]

Exciting to be a small part of that revolution.

[Mario Sundar]

CK!

In my book; i'd have to vote you in as marketing blogger of the moment -- first the cool pdf collage, then you start kickin butt on mprofs and then the book club!

You rock, CK! Glad we are all on this journey together.

Mario

[CK]

David: Yep, this revolution is one we're all a part of...and it's fabulous dah-ling.

Mario: A rising tide lifts all boats, buddy. I'm just doing my fun stuff cuz you guys let me. That's the truth. It's a journey for sure.

[Tim Jackson]

I was floored when I saw the cover of the magazine and will spend some time reading it and digesting the significance. This really is something amazing- I can imagine that you were doing a little dance when you saw the cover, just like me. As one of the little guys who is happily a member of the revolution, I was ecstatic to see this moment come to life.

But here's the rub; we knew this all along, didn't we? All of us who really care about this stuff would still be doing what we do even if nobody in the big outside world was paying attention to our little voices joining together in a huge chorus.

Let's all keep singing and proving that we were always right in first place.

Power to the people! Indeed...

[Cam Beck]

The funny part was when I mistakenly called my parents to brag that *I* was on the cover of Time. ;)

[Gavin Heaton]

"Changing the way that the world changes" ... now THAT is something to aspire to!

The best thing about this, is that we now have a major publisher weighing in, giving the nay-sayers something to think about (and more importantly) something to read -- because let's face it, they are not YET coming online in the numbers and with the curiosity we would like to see. But clearly, others ... many others are.

Now, if only I can find a copy somewhere here!