Written by Aman Makkar Thursday, 08 May 2008 10:19
I would like to start by thanking our authors, advertisers, advisers, and my staff for helping make the premier issue of The Reverse Review a tremendous success. The feedback we received has been overwhelmingly positive, and the relationships we have started to build are priceless. I have personally learned more in the last couple months while creating this magazine than I would have ever imagined. I must admit, we have been fortunate to collaborate with wonderful individuals who are very passionate about our industry.
As some of you know, many of my experiences have come from the online world. Over the last five years in the Internet space, we have become accustomed to developments like social networks, blogs, online video sites, etc.. Many of you have heard of MySpace, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, and the like. Many of us have even started our own blogs, created websites, or created personal or business profiles on one of the many social networking websites. These online portals all have one thing in common: user generated content (UGC).
The key to UGC is that all content created is by the end user. Now, think about the impact user generated content has had on our society. Without people like you and I getting online and creating this content, many of these companies would not exist. The big successes of companies like YouTube and MySpace are simply due to the fact that normal people like us get online and create profiles or upload videos. The web has given us the ability to express ourselves in any way we would like.
User generated content has become so powerful and mainstream that this year questions for the presidential debates were brought in from users on YouTube. In another example, earlier this year, Apple lowered the price of it’s iPhone shortly after it’s launch. Many buyers who had paid a higher price were furious. Collectively, the online voice was so powerful that “protests” on chat forums and blogs lead Apple CEO Steve Jobs to refund $100 to thousands of his customers. (WOW! I know I’ve bought a computer before and within weeks after my purchase it was a few hundred dollars cheaper. I need to start protesting online!)
Point being, the future of our society is not about a few people running the show, but about everyone getting involved, expressing their opinions, and making their voices heard. I believe the initial success of our magazine was truly the success of our authors and everyone else involved. The Reverse Review is a magazine and website in which we want everyone’s participation, comments, and feedback. Anyone who chooses to can be an author and have their opinions heard. Therefore, every month we invite new authors to contribute, and if we haven’t invited you, we ask you to invite yourself by sending us an email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
Aman Makkar
Editor
.gif)