Hi, My Name is Tamar, and I am a Media Snacker

I’ve been tagged against my will by Jane and Jason in one of the latest memes: do you respect media snackers?

Well first, what the heck is a media snacker? Watch this short video to see:

Here’s the transcript for the video-phobes:

Media Snackers. What’s it all about? Well, you see the world has changed and it’s not turning back. Media snackers are young people. No longer is there a set menu of mass media delivered at specific times and to the masses. Print, radio, [and] television is now “push the red button and go interactive,” “text in your request,” or “let us tell you a story.” The internet and technology ownership has changed everything: digital TV, mobile phones, iPods, weblogs, instant messaging, [and] social networking. The media landscape has shifted from the linear to one of many layers consumed by creative and empowered individuals. Young people of the new WWW generation snuck in whenever, wherever, and on whatever they like. Crucially, their expectations have changed. Everything is multi: multi-screens, multi-channeled, multi-conversations, and multitasking. Totally connected groups are average sharers, creating as much as they can consume and using free sites to display it all. Whereas before when computers were only found in banks and offices, media snackers have access at home, in school, or in libraries — all for free. Remember visiting arcade centers to play games? Media snackers play at home and against the world. How about taping your favorite tunes off the radio? Media snackers simply download them from the web and carry their whole music collection with them. Previously, to have a mobile phone, you needed a large bank account. Media snackers just have pockets. Media snackers are young people.

The chain, sparked by Jeremiah Owyang, talks about the evolution of technology and how people need to pick and choose their media, which can be consumed easily.

Do I respect media snackers? Of course I do. I snack on media all day long. 🙂 Whether it’s Flickr, StumbleUpon, Digg, del.icio.us, Twitter, Facebook, Sphinn, LinkedIn, blogs, blogs, more blogs, and even more blogs, you can find me looking for the most pertinent content that aligns with my interests.

Is it hard to snack on so much media at once? I would say that you need to find out what works for you. The attention economy is playing tug of war with our minds and we need to figure out what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. But before I engaged in so many social media spheres, I certainly wasn’t as well-rounded as I was prior to my participation. Now, it’s a matter of sifting through the necessary and weeding out the unnecessary. As the landscape changes, so does the content.

I respect media snackers very much and find myself having some of the most interesting discussions with them. I find them blogging about the coolest innovations or discoveries. All in all, media snacking has opened the floodgates of information, but fortunately, at the end of the day, we’re in control of what we want to read and how we’re going to digest the information.

I’m actually going to deviate from the norm and tag people for this one, since I’d love to hear from Barry, Maki, Ben, Lyndon, Andy, and Eric. My friends, do you respect media snackers?

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