This is a short intro to the value of word of mouth that I started writing for a blog post at The Next Great Generation and then decided to just post here and link it from there, because who wants to read so many WORDSWORDSWORDS?

You know, we’re in the future. Or a version of the future that’s cooler than most of the futures we were sold as kids. Think about it—you’re in a traffic jam, or stuck in the subway. Which would you rather have, an iPhone or a lightsaber? (The right answer is teleportation, but whatevz. If you want to quibble, my laptop lets me watch movies, work on my album, and quote Curb Your Enthusiasm to thousands of strangers.)

I always thought the future would bring us different marketing techniques for our self-lacing sneakers. George Saunders has a macabre book where he describes all of them like it’s a bad thing. But I was wrong, and Saunders is boring. Because what turns out to have happened is, this future that we live in, with its interconnectedness and Google/Wiki omniscience, has created a massive world society with tiny communities. This has led to what I like to call the “villaging effect”; which any self-respecting anthropologist will tell you, is not a real concept.

Let me explain. Before the mass media of the 20th century (which was in turn pushed into marketing because of the manufacturing revolutions of the 19th), you would go to local stores. If Horatio Higgenbotham was a shoddy blacksmith (no pun intended), your buddy Ezekiel would warn you off, probably saying “Foorsooth, homie, do not go gentle into the good Higgenbotham!”

But the 20th century came, bringing with it reckless villanelles, radio and television. All of a sudden, the good Horatio was replaced by the likes of Betty Crocker and Chef Boyardee, one real, one fake, both gigantic in their hold on the American supermarket distribution chains and, subsequently, culture. Everything happened on a gigantic scale. It’s fitting that McDonald’s, the greatest symbol of 20th century mass manufacturing and media, proudly claims to have served billions and billions.

This is because communication was one-way. You can watch TV, but you can’t talk back at it.

In the last five years, we’ve redeveloped tools for talking back at brands. First, we have websites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Secondly, the internet is really good for developing arcane interests. For example, if you want to buy a messenger bag, you don’t need to go to a store and look through their limited offerings. You can read messenger bag enthusiast sites and learn about, say, Timbuk2 or Chrome, both of them excellent brands that have grown exponentially in the last decade because of word of mouth and internet sales. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this combination has amplified the power and utility of word of mouth. These days, I never go to restaurants without checking Yelp first.

So we’re kind of back to the Horatio Higgenbotham brandbuilding model, except of course, instead of horseshoes, word of mouth goes into promoting the Anvil movie. (So not much of a change, if you think about it.)

TLDR: The villaging effect is the transformation of a large population into what are effectively small communities tied by interests and locality. On the one hand, a mutual interest helps over-ride geographical limitations (by enabling you to order the best messenger bag online). On the other, these same mutual interest groups help you find the best offerings in your localities.