Computers & The Age of Empowerment

In his ClickZ colum this morning, Gary Stein offers some provocative thoughts about computers and empowerment. Computers, he argues, represent "a pathway through which (consumers) become not only more educated of their choices, but more involved and engaged in them, too." There's no question that technology is empowering; applied smartly it gives us more control, choice, leverage, and yes, power, and consumer-generated media is part of the residue. But there's a flip side of Gary's argument we need to start thinking about, and that's the extent to which technology starts to overwhelm us, confuse us, and even start to slow us down. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I'll admit there are times when I feel the only way I'll grow is taking a tech-free siesta. On the blog reading, my Nielsen BuzzMetrics colleague Max Kalehoff has been cranking out some excellent content in his AttentionMax blog, including a series of "Adventures in MySpace." Meanwhile, Nigel Holis of Milward-Brown, writes a thoughtful critique of consumer-generated media in the context of the Chevy-Tahoe CGM campaign.