New Media: More Personal Than Ever

I’m fascinated by these personal shopping websites like ShoeDazzle.com and JustFab.com. They claim to offer personalized selections, each of which is a standard price. You simply answer a series of questions, choose preferences and options like color, type of shoe and heel, and rate items, and stylists handpick shoes, purses, and jewelry for you. If you don’t like your options, you can request new ones. However, given the option to view all of the other items being sold by the site, I wonder if the gimmick of personal styling will last in this case. In my own personal experiences, the personalized selections haven’t reflected the feedback or answers I have provided, and like most, I am a bit curious by nature. Meaning I always review the other items being sold, even though they were not selected for me. I recently saw that a lingerie store of this type was created, which lends itself to one of two possibilities: these sites are more successful than I can imagine or it’s simply more people jumping on the latest fad bandwagon in hopes of making money. If these sites are indeed prospering, I wonder if it will last, and if it is because the service is worth the cost and is satisfactory to most of the customers. I think it is more likely the celebrity associated with one of the sites, and the appeal to the idea of having a personal shopper virtually for free, as you only have to pay if you make a purchase. Certainly the trend towards customizing our media experiences is one that we are increasingly seeing in a number of ways, from news sites to shopping. I am curious to see what other personalization we see in the near future as media, communications and technology continue to play such a major role in our lives.