Introduction

I had (and still have) a dream that the Web could be less of a television channel and more of an interactive sea of shared knowledge. I imagine it immersing us as a warm, friendly environment made of the things we and our friends have seen, heard, believe, or have figured out. I would like it to bring our friends and colleagues closer, in that by working on this knowledge together we can come to better understandings.

—Tim Berners Lee, 1995

When I wrote the first edition of this book in 2007, social media was a fast-growing marketing phenomenon. The crush of the feedback cycle—driven by digital word of mouth in the form of blog posts, pictures, video, ratings and reviews, and more—was having a pronounced impact on marketing. As if a one-two punch, at the same time all of this new consumer-generated digital media was reducing the hours that sections of the mainstream audience were spending with traditional media. The marketing landscape was shifting, permanently.