Boomerang

Increasingly, information seekers are turning to user-generated sources to meet their needs. For those of you new to the space, user-generated content (UGC) refers to media content that is produced by “ordinary people,” as opposed to traditional editors, broadcasters and production companies. This phenomenon marks a clear departure from the reliance on (I would even go so far as to say trust of) traditional media sources. Some argue that user-generated media degrades the quality of information, since it’s not up to snuff with work done by formally trained media professionals. While this may be true in many cases, user-generated content should be considered a valuable information source, rather than a home-grown substitution for traditional media.

One advantage of user-generated media over traditional media is the ability to provide insight from a body of collective intelligence. UGC that infuses some sort of “checks and balances” is particularly powerful because the information is provided with a more global perspective. In other words, when lots of people give their opinion, readers get a more objective view simply because the different perspectives balance each other out.

Here’s an example: Everyone knows the best way to find a trustworthy doctor, a skilled stylist, or a decent slice of pizza in San Francisco (yes it does exist!) is to ask a friend. Enter Yelp, which turns individual word-of-mouth recommendations (user-generated content) into a centralized local guide for various cities. Yelp readers get multiple perspectives on each item, ensuring that no one voice or perspective gets too loud. When I need a quick neighborhood recommendation, this information is more valuable than the food review in a food critic’s column of a newspaper. It might not be as polished or well written, but it gives me exactly the content I’m looking for.

The ability to gather collective intelligence adds a dimension of credibility and global perspective - two aspects that would dramatically strengthen user-generated news sources. Those UGC sources that are positioned to incorporate wide-scale user-generated content are going to make a huge impact on the media landscape.