Foreword vii mind if I give you a brief summary of the book's structure, using three legendary YouTube film clips as my guide. Part One reminded me of the Did you know? clip, in which you can learn (amongst other things) that in just one (!) week the New York Times offers you more information than someone in the 18th century was able to process and absorb in their entire lifetime. The general tone of Did you know? is ominous and the Fat Boy Slim rap `Right here, right now' is prominent in the mix. Steven Van Belleghem goes for a different approach. His `did-you-knows' are never threat- ening. He explains tectonic shifts in the internet landscape, yet man- ages to convey them to his readers with humour and style. Simple words and easily recognizable examples illustrate and soften the im- pact of these seismic changes at the deeply human and emotional level of `you' and `I'. Whether he is talking about Oprah Winfrey, Domino's pizza or FC Bruges (his favourite football team), one con- clusion remains inescapably in the foreground: authenticity is the trump card in the global brand village of the modern marketeer. The virtual world is not developing alongside everyday reality, but right