Personalization
by
Personalization is a term used by contemporary media practitioners to denote the emerging process by which a media organization tailors the content an individual receives based on attributes the organization believes it knows about the individual. Although the idea of personalization in performance goes far back in time, the notion of personalization as a practical activity in media industries is relatively new. Currently practiced most commonly in advertising, personalization is also showing up in other genres of media content, including music services and video games. Interpersonal or handicraft performance often involves personalization. A storyteller’s selection of a narrative and the nuances of recounting typically reflect the speaker’s beliefs about the listener. An artist creating material for a patron is likely to choose the topic and perhaps even the form based on a perception of the patron’s interests. The sale of products and services also has traditionally involved personalized elements. Records dating to biblical times show that merchants have adjusted the choice of merchandise, its price, and even the location for completing the sale based on an understanding of the particular shopper. New technologies tied to steam or electrical power that evolved from the nineteenth century through much of the twentieth...
This essay may be found on page 135 of the printed volume.