I became part of the long tail before I even heard of The Long Tail.
I have a tiny niche Web site where I broadcast the soccer games of a small team in Yakima, of all places, to an audience that is maybe in the tens, if not or the dozens. And by dozens I mean, three dozens, tops. And I have had this web site for about a year now, if that. And I understood what the Long Tail within the last six months. Tops.
But perhaps the fact that I did it before what I understood what I was doing was the Long Tail, is what made Anderson’s concept make sense more quickly once I learned of it.
Now that I connected the dots, for some reason I feel more optimistic that I’m not just weeping into the wind. Perhaps it’s a sense of misery-loving company, but honestly, knowing that I’m part of a phenomenon bigger than just me makes me feel more optimistic about the prospect of it. I agree with Tessa’s view that the ones making the “Kwan” (to use a “Jerry Maguire” phrase) are the aggregators and not the little guy, but examples such as the one she gave of the West Seattle Blog energize me that it’ snot a an exercise in futility what I’m doing. I”m part of a broad range of options, and if I give my option an edge, whichever it may be, I’m an equal competitor with a variety of voices out here on the powerful tail.
