In competing to become the standard, or at least to achieve critical mass, consumer expectations are critical. In a very real sense, the product that is expected to become the standard will become the standard. Self-fulfilling exppositive-feedback economics and bandwagon effects.
Consumer expectation
The more consumers are willing to send information about themselves ‘upstream’, the better it is for those companies in a position to exploit such information. Thus, approaches to new media that celebrate the progressive aspect of interactivity run the danger of co-optation by marketing strategies that appeal to the democratic potential of the internet.
