The EoC Glossary

This is a regularly updated glossary of original or remixed words that Gerd likes to use. These terms are marked in the blook with the ★ symbol.

Feels Like Free (FLF): A more fitting variant of the word “free” if used in connection with digital content. Feels like free (FLF) means that for a user the content seems to be free of charge, but at the same time the creator still gets remunerated for his or her content, i.e., there is real money generated in the process of content consumption. Gerd’s favorite FLF examples are radio, highway tolls, CDR levies, basic cable TV, 911 access charges in the U.S., public TV and Radio license fees in Europe...and of course: water. Everyone uses, everyone pays — but very few still notice, and most have accepted a payment-along-the-way, or build-in.

People Formerly Known as Consumers (PFKACs): In the 20th century, most people were content with passively consuming the media that was fed to them by the media companies. In the Web 2.0 era (i.e., during and after the second Internet boom that has followed the dot-com crash in 2001), people are starting to seek out their own media sources, themselves, and are even (co)creating media. These are the PFKACs. Media and entertainment marketing is moving from pull to push, content moves from being linear to being interactive, and consumers don’t just consume any longer. Related: Usator.

Trustol: A new way of sort-of-controlling the users by earning and keeping their trust. In other words, Trustol is a new kind of control, a sort of Control 2.0, that a media company may be able to achieve by being trusted. Trustol is the new Castrol for the content business, so to speak — the new oil in the engine of media.

Usator: a favorite Gerd mashup of user and creator, i.e., a person who may consume more or less passively (if there is any such thing anymore) but also “creates” content by engaging in activities such as blogging or guest-commenting, adding some original content to a webpage, publishing a photo, changing the look and feel of a profile page, or adding a widget. In general, this is a catch-all term that reflects how hard it has become to define what makes someone a “creator” versus a plain user who also happens to contribute. Perhaps the illustration below is helpful. (I think the graph originally stems from some IBM report.)

More at www.usator.com. Related: prosumer.