Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage,” and 400 years later that stage is completely accessible for anyone to step onto and be creative simply by connecting to the Internet.
“This wide and universal theatre”—Shakespeare’s description of life—is bursting with grassroots creativity and bringing audience-created content to a seemingly bottomless pit of demand. The Internet opened the door wide for people to play a new game of self-expression, and it is quickly making stars out of some of its players.
In an article titled “Moguls of New Media” in the July 29 Wall Street Journal, it states, “As videos, blogs, and webpages created by amateurs remake the entertainment landscape, unknown directors, writers and producers are being catapulted into positions of enormous influence.”
A self-made celebrity on MySpace now has a million “friends” and is capturing $5,000 per appearance at promotional events.
An art student from Iceland picked up a camera one year ago and has now, through exposure of her work on Flickr, just been hired by Toyota to do a photo shoot.
A 20-year-old young woman who posted dozens of her own homemade videos on YouTube has become so popular, she recently signed a TV and Internet development deal with NBC talk-show host Carson Daly.
To me what's so obviously proven by these examples is exactly what's so phenomenal about the Internet—the spotlight is always on, and there is always room on stage.
