The massive asymmetry between producers and consumers is a repeated pattern across many domains regardless of technology.
-- of wikipedia readers, less than 1% write articles
-- in web forums, most are lurkers and less than 1% write posts
-- movies: millions watch them, less than 1% produce their own movies
-- books: millions of readers, relatively few authors
-- cars: most drive them, very few build/rebuild them (as a hobby)
, etc.
Another example is blogging. Today, for a novice, it's more friction-free than the 1990s Geocities days to set up a blog and share one's thoughts. However, the vast majority are not interested. It seems like an imbalance that we'll always have.
So it's not like we conspired to have everyone be dumb consumers. Perhaps the internet evolved that way because it is a reflection of what we are.
The technology would not be relevant.
The massive asymmetry between producers and consumers is a repeated pattern across many domains regardless of technology.
-- of wikipedia readers, less than 1% write articles
-- in web forums, most are lurkers and less than 1% write posts
-- movies: millions watch them, less than 1% produce their own movies
-- books: millions of readers, relatively few authors
-- cars: most drive them, very few build/rebuild them (as a hobby)
, etc.
Another example is blogging. Today, for a novice, it's more friction-free than the 1990s Geocities days to set up a blog and share one's thoughts. However, the vast majority are not interested. It seems like an imbalance that we'll always have.
So it's not like we conspired to have everyone be dumb consumers. Perhaps the internet evolved that way because it is a reflection of what we are.