Whether, for want of a better term, it is going to empower them. But empowering content looks more and more important as economic shifts continue to transfer commercial power from the producer to the consumer. Consumers increasingly resist being spun a pitch. But they also need more help than ever before to complete transactions and tasks of all sorts. To take the most obvious example, content can allow Web users to purchase services and goods.
People only buy when they know what they're buying.
So many sites provide information about products they have for sale. Amazon and eBay are two classic examples - and two of the elite group of Web sites whose business model looks solid. They aim to attract customers before they are ready to buy. Draw users back again and again, these sites reason, and those users will be much more likely to buy at some point in the future. They'll also build the site's reputation as a source of help.