I hereby nominate Ben Joseph President of the Internet.

benjoseph:

He’s right, but only partly. Talent is the ultimate commodity, and every established mass media has a system for recognizing, cultivating, and sustaining it. (Talent, under this definition, being content creators whose work people will sacrifice time and/or money to consume.) This structure doesn’t yet exist online. I’d go as far as arguing that there isn’t any great consensus on what sucessful digital content should even look like.

The result? A period of great experimentation but low profitability/loss leading for most producers of all sizes. In the years to come, as more efficient systems emerge for identifying, categorizing, and monetizing online video talent, many will fall away, but those who do well and can consistently deliver an audience will find their services in high demand indeed.

Either that, or we can all give up and start watching quarterlife.