The digital services economy: understanding next generation internet users

The widespread take-up of broadband, increased media literacy and user sophistication in advanced economies is enabling the development of Internet-based services that feature user-led innovation, group-formation, many-to-many communications and peer collaboration. These new services enable qualitatively different business and social relationships to emerge than were possible using earlier media forms. Interoperability between different platforms using XML and Web services creates the conditions for more fluid forms of interaction to occur between media providers and end users. Advanced search algorithms and lightweight publication protocols like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) have unsettled the established one-to-many broadcast media model. Millions of users with access to these services have the opportunity to personalise their media lifestyle experience by pulling together syndicated, aggregated and customised content. Internet-based services have the potential to radically transform the mass-market media and entertainment sector and re-define traditional value chains of production, distribution and consumption.