Tech futurist Paul Saffo writes: “The Web is moving from being
a place where people access information to a place where people access other
people in an information-rich environment”.

We refer to this phenomenon by a number of names: social media, web 2.0, user- generated
content, social networks.
But not a lot is
said about the difference between the handful of contributors who take the time
to espouse an opinion, and those who are passive consumers of that message. 

The
Guardian Unlimited has suggested a 1% rule: “an emerging rule of
thumb that suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online then one will
create content, 10 will "interact" with it (commenting or offering
improvements) and the other 89 will just view it”.  Microsoft’s Don Dodge offers
a simple
illustration of this phenomenon.

At Organic, we are thinking about the “11%” – reaching beyond
the traditional opinion makers (the 1%) to speak to what we call the New Influencers
– ordinary consumers who are finding their voice online in an assistive or
synthesizing role.

Here’s a basic model showing the emergence of the New Influencer:

New Influencers rate Amazon reviews, add comments to Yahoo
news stories, post video replies on YouTube. New Influencers see their improvements on the work of others as a form
of self-expression and a way to gain social currency. By interacting with original content, they
validate an author’s expertise. And they
are just as valuable to the social network as content creators.   (thanks
to James Kim and Jay Bain)

Misha Cornes