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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

As a result of the Internet, markets are getting smarter,more informed,more organized.Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally

12 years after the Cluetrain Manifesto was written and we are being asked in the class to pick one of the 95 theses and present it in Zen style-Garr Reynolds. I picked No 10. We also instructed to write a report which must contain a fuller explanation of both the speaker notes and the slides show. In the report we must explain the origin of the thesis (the world in 1999) as well as its application in modern day society (the world in 2011). However, the thesis 10 which is one of the most important of the 95 theses as it explained the development on the way we do business will be explain in four parts: the Markets conversation, the industry revolution, the Internet revolution and people participation in the Internet-worked market.

The markets conversations
In the early days, the market was about conversation. The market is a place where people go to interact with other people, see friends, sell their goods, and listen to what is happening in the other towns or communities. According to (Bennett, 2000), “people go to the market to display their wares to all who would see, touch, and smell them. People discuss which merchants were fair, who had the best quality, and so on”. Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger (1999:7), point out that “the market was the center of human interaction, where polities, society and business merged and the market was the heart of the city”. The marketplace was the conversations.

The Industry revolution
The industries revolutions interrupt the market conversation. Bring with it mass production and organized market in a way that look little smart but not organized. What the marketplace was known for (conversation) was lost. Craftsmanship also disappeared and corporations take over the business. People couldn’t make suggestions or ask for new features. People were to buy the product- any colour they wanted as long as it was black (Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger, 1999:7). On the other hand, workers were not allowed to make suggestion. They were instructed to do what they were told. With mass media markets change the look. “People were manipulated into buying the last and greatest because TV told them and the market became a one-way street, aimed directly at the consumers” (Bennett, 2000).

Internet Revolution: people talking to people.
The Internet entered into the picture with new ways that changed the nature of the marketplace and introduced the global market that makes things smarter, organized and informed in bigger way (new marketplace). “A powerful global market has began. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smatter- and getting faster than most companies” (Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger, 1999). The new market (Internet market) brings down the old business-as-usual and gave us the greatest conversation that we once lost (Traditional market). Now thousands of people can talk to each other in a way that could never be imagined. They tell each other the latest cafés, which car is best or what doctors give the best care. Business instantly began to go online and people began to get information online. The Internet organized the market and we could no longer hear the voice of those who want to sell us half-truth about their products and services. “The markplace returned with a vengeance, become smarter, more organized and informed” (Bennett, 2000).

Participation in Internetworked market changes people fundamentally
Participation in the internetworked market changes people deeply. I know it because the Internet changed me and thousands of people I talk to everyday. The best way to explain our involvement in internet participation is to tell my own story-now I have a voice that my fathers did not have. Some of the time I forget to watch news on television up to weeks because I have internet on my hands. All I will do is to type news address and in a few seconds information of what is happening in the other parts of the world will pop-out front of my computers. If I want to sell something I don’t need to go to the market to look for a buyer, just put the photos and my address with my contract number online for the buyer to see. I can now write my own story about what is going on around me for the world to read (Blog) even read the story of my friends in another country within a minute. Internet participation has transformed us and changed us like never before. With such conversations market gets smarter, more informed and more organized.

More information on this topic can be found in Bennett, J. 2000. Reviews of the ClueTrain Manifesto. http://slashdot.org/story/00/03/31/1556202/. The-Cluetrain-Manifesto. Williams, F. 2000. UB Explores future of Internet: Buffalo News. http://tolearn.net/riccistreet/port80/docks/marketing/open.htm. Levine, R., Christopher, L., Searls, D. & Weinberger, D. 1999. The Cluetrain Manifesto. http://www.cluetrain.com/book/talk.html.

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