As the Internet brings people together through social networking and large databases (super crunching), smaller, niche markets are being targeted more effectively by advertisers. These niche markets are part of what Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, calls 'the long tail'.

The long tail is the opposite of the 'head' of the market. Because of the limitations of traditional media, publishers, record companies and manufacturers have traditionally only targeted the head of the market, meaning they advertise best-sellers, pop-chart hits and Barbie dolls for example. However, the total sales of unpopular products is larger that the total sales of popular products. Thanks to the Internet, niche markets, who have 'obscure' tastes, such as Kurdish dance music, cold-war stamps and Siberian poetry, are being targeted more effectively. The following video, created to promote Chris Anderson's book, explains long tail marketing. This notion is important for understanding the role of audience and purpose when exploring new text types on the Internet.