The taste of crowds.
I like Everett Rogers adoption curve because I find it explains quite a few different patterns. One of them we discussed recently at Zeus Jones was the abysmal taste of crowds. Unfortunately, we seem to have fallen for the utopian view that the masses are always right and have applied that concept everywhere.
While it’s true that our collective wisdom can lead to great results, that’s not true for their taste. From services like Digg to YouTube to iTunes to epinions, we rely upon popularity to provide some level of filtering for us. However as the chart above shows, what’s popular will always, over time, tend to the banal. By choosing to view, subscribe or read only what’s popular you essentially cut off the edges of your media. Lose the absolutely terrible but lose the potentially brilliant as well.
