have a bandit day

The age of the cowboys has returned.

They served a purpose, once. Literally, a cowboy is “a boy who tends cows.” Charged with handling and herding cows across vast grazing plains, cowboys would drive their herds for weeks having them feed on pre-determined areas.

*Fast forward 150 years*

The creators of content hold dominion over the internet kingdom. Followers religiously flock to blogs and websites snapping up any morsel of content published. The populace holds its breath, waiting for a new article/comic/blog post. And is was good.

*Fast forward 157 years*

Today, it’s not the creation of content that reigns; it’s the distribution. Retweets, reblogs, mass publishers and RSS-feeds drive people to the news. Users with powerful, online presence control the content flood gate. These Social Media Cowboys are performing the same duty from which their name originated: they herd the information seeking cattle.

Social Media works on three friendly assumptions.

1. You are like me.
2. We enjoy similar content.
3. I think YOU will like this content because I like this content.

By applying these concepts to individuals hundreds of times over, power users become viewed as “authority” on subject matter, cemented with a vast network of social media contacts. This influence is were the power to truly push content comes from.

If you want to survive the shift, try making some new cowboy friends. Or even better, saddle up, holster that pistol, and go west, young man.

- bang.