https://mediapost.com/publications/article/317586/content-marketing-surges-tops-16-billion-worldwi.html   In the U.S., consumer content marketing has grown to a more than $7 billion industry.

Great Digiday article:  https://digiday.com/marketing/influencer-marketing-changed-5-charts/

From CrowdSourcing Week:

Decentralization is our theme for 2018. The word has rebellious and transformative connotations, stemming from the sometimes turbulent devolvement of historically central-held power over property, wealth and justice to regimes of democratic government, a right to work and workers rights, and equal access to justice. More recently we have seen a grassroots reaction against corporate globalization and centralized politicization in the form of Brexit and a resurgence of nationalist political parties with protectionist policies in many countries. Decentralization is at the heart of the disruption we have seen brought about by new companies utilizing mass, personal connectivity in many business and industry sectors to let us transact directly with each other rather.