"People wonder how Wikipedia magically arose from nothing, and how 50 million bloggers suddenly appeared, almost all of them writing for free" [Longtail]
Just like the mobile providers are hoping for a (continued) windfall from our 'fear' of boring pauses and mindless waiting, so Chris draws the parallel between online and connected people using their time and brainpower to create "free" stuff (yours truly included right now - coffee break posting).
Just like the online newspapers have in large part opened whole new markets for advertising - catching people during their workday, so now the social sites are reaping the benefits, in terms of eyeballs, advertising and hype. So people spend time reading articles about people spending time writing messages. And then they spend some time commenting on it - online. And the cycle lives on. The watercooler is dead, long live the "digital black hole for attention"
...and the sun was warm this morning, summer is sneaking up at last...
