The use of digital is also blurring the lines between customer and seller. A few years ago people thought I was insane in facilitating a network on my lonesome on top of my day job. You join a professional association and become the VP of programming if you want to do that. Later they sought confirmation in their assessment of my insanity when I started Conversation Agent. Many are now using blogs as a dynamic newsletter to push news about their projects out.
The difference between native and immigrant in the two activities above is the degree of involvement. When I started developing the network I only suspected that I would have a higher degree of interest in its success -- now I know with certainty that it's because I am at the same time organizer and leader as well as participant. Having a blog is a way to stay curious and participate in the larger conversation, not merely a way to make your newsletter interactive.
william doust on 01 Feb 10fab research! - Stanford at its best ;-)