dogimo: Good evening, and welcome to another edition of Special Guest Shot. Tonight we join Dwight "Doc" Tedster, Executive VP of Sales and Advertising for Yo!tube. First off, Dwight, a 2-parter: one, do I call you Dwight or "Doc", and two, is your last name really Tedster?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: Yes, it is. Dwight is fine. Nobody calls me "Doc," I don't know where you got that.
dogimo: Did your parents consider "Ted" as a name, or have you perhaps had any sons named "Ted"?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: No, that would be...pretty stupid.
dogimo: Quite right. So Dwight, I understand that you've got some alarming news on the media front today, to the effect that content providers now outnumber content consumers?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: True fact. By 2-to-1, it's a phenomenon.
dogimo: What can you tell us about that? What's the cause?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: It's down to the explosion of media outlets, ways and means with which to put one's self, message, image or voice out there. There are twitterers, 12ers, you-tubers, bloggers, vloggers, and any number of others. It's a global trend, and people are jumping on board in droves - more and more people wanting to express themselves to the world. But what's dismaying the content provider community right now is that as more and more people have jumped in to the global self-expression boom, the relative size of the audience keeps dwindling. Eighteen months ago, the number of people putting themselves out there eclipsed the number of people tuning in to read, watch and/or listen. As of last month, the trend reached a crisis point, with twice as many content providers as there are people interested in consuming that content.
dogimo: I see the problem. And what does this trend bode for the global media paradigm to come?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: It's hard to say! The content-providing community has long made a conscious effort to band together and up their mutual consumption of each other's content - blogs linking to other blogs, various mutual-appreciation community archetypes - but with the flood of new providers, it isn't enough. There are just too many people who want to put themselves out there, and there aren't enough people who want to pay attention. The question is: how can we expand the appeal of what's being offered?
dogimo: Especially since what is being offered is essentially, the unedited musings of random amateurs! Such as myself.
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: You have hit it exactly! How do you make that appealing?
dogimo: It's a challenge, and a struggle! Has anybody come up with any ideas, though? It doesn't seem like a really solvable...
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: Well, that's where you're wrong. The solution is pretty obvious if you think about it. We unionize.
dogimo: ...what...?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: Think about it! Union-approved and credentialed content providers! You'd have a chance to set the bar a lot higher, institute some quality controls...
dogimo: ...that's...
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: ...do something to give us some control over the nonstop flood of subpar producers, give the public some assurance that what they are getting is high-quality content. Give consumers a reason to be interested.
dogimo: I admit, it's not entirely crazy, but from a practical standpoint, how do you impose something like this?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: Don't say "impose," it's not a bad thing it's a good thing! Union members would proudly display the Union seal on their page, the consumer would have a high confidence level wherever the seal is displayed. It's a win-win.
dogimo: Okay, but what about scabs?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: I don't anticipate a problem. We believe the cachet associated with Union content will naturally attract the consumer, just by virtue of a superior product. If not, well we have ways of dealing with non-Union providers too. I don't anticipate a problem either way.
dogimo: Well heck, under this scenario, would I get in?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: I haven't really looked around much, at what you have. What sets you apart?
dogimo: Well, I do...I'm a bit of a polyspecialist. I do some poetry, some drawings...some interviews...
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: ...
dogimo: I have a recurring Nude Blog feature?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: I'm not the one who is going to be making the decisions, it wouldn't be right for me to speculate one way or the other...
dogimo: But I've got a shot, right?
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: Every quality content provider has a shot. We will certify and sign up anyone who makes the grade.
dogimo: Sweet! If it's quality you're after, I'm not worried.
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: Yeah, neither am I. The concept's a proven winner. We're just adapting proven old-paradigm methods.
dogimo: Well that sounds fair enough. After the break, maybe you can describe the derivation of the pay scale for us.
Dwight "Doc" Tedster: ...
~ END OF PART 1 ~
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