The 'Long Tail' of tail: crowdsourcing pioneer Joe Francis

Volunteer-generated content. The amateurization of media. Crowdsourcing. "Girls Gone Wild" has been on the leading edge of Media 2.0 trends since the late 90s. Claire Hoffman profiles its founder, Joe Francis:

LA Times: 'Baby, Give Me a Kiss'

The "Girls Gone Wild" empire is built on a "Long Tail" of tail: a seemingly-inexhaustible population of drunken young women, seizing the momentary exhilaration of exhibitionism plus a minute or two of direct-to-video porn-fame. Camera crews with giveaway t-shirts, panties, and hats create an "architecture of participation" which generates the "emergent, not predetermined user behavior" of spontaneous public nudity -- and then more raunchy behavior back in hotel rooms and the "Girls Gone Wild" party tour buses.

And if Francis invites you back to the bus bedroom, he may even show you his version of "small pieces, loosely joined" -- whether you want him to or not.

Tags: long+tail, joe+francis, girls+gone+wild, crowdsourcing, porn, facetious

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