Tony Zameczkowski, Victorious International‘s MD & VP, describes todaly’s mediascape as a constant feedback loop between creators and their audiences on mipblog.

He starts with a bit of history:

“In the B.D. (before digital) era, the focal point of content consumption was the physical water cooler. With limited media options, must-see TV such as Friends and Seinfeld connected colleagues in break-rooms and families around dinner tables with a commonality of content. The series finales of both sitcoms were cultural cornerstones for audiences worldwide.”

Enter the smartphone, or mobile for you Europeans:

“That commonality of content no longer exists for millennials. Netflix, YouTube, and a multitude of online platforms compete for their attention. Instead of the TV, millennials are increasingly glued to their mobile devices — more than 1/4 of millennials use mobile as their primary device for viewing content. Google recently announced that users are spending an average of 40+ minutes per session on YouTube Mobile and that more than half of the views on YouTube are coming from mobile devices. Many of our creator-partners are seeing that the majority of their viewership comes from mobile as well.”

What should content creators do?

“Creators need to focus on what we like to call, ‘symbiotic content’. In essence, it transcends single formats (videos, images etc.) and platforms (YouTube, Vine etc.) and bridges them together. Symbiotic content is founded on a three step cycle. First, our community app crowd-sources content and inspiration from a creator’s community. The distribution platform (e.g., YouTube) then repackages that content for distribution. Third, our community app enables follow-on conversation and content back in the creator’s community. This facilitates a virtuous cycle of engagement and re-engagement among our creators’ fanbase.”

In essence, they are creating a virtual water cooler, one that is decentralized and mobile. It unites fans across the world with the content creators who have expanded beyond the concept of 20th century media to the new reality.

My take: this is the best summary of the future of the mediascape to date. Dismiss at your peril!