David Bloom

Fans -- those completely entranced people who tweet and share and talk about their favorite TV shows and films and books and whatever else they care intensely about -- are increasingly far more valuable to networks and other content creators than just accreting big audiences, said Mary Meeker, the long-time Internet investment analyst. Meeker gave a brisk and broad-ranging rundown of major Internet trends as the opening speech at the 2014 Code Conference, the rebranded confab in Palos Verdes, California for Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher’s new tech-news site Re/Code.

“Fans trump audiences,” Meeker said, crediting the observation to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who will speak before the show closes. “An audience changes the channel when the show is over. A fan base shares, comments, creates content” when the show is done, magnifying the show’s reach and engagement with existing and potential new audiences. That engagement with highly connected and passionate fans will become all the more important as more tablets and other smartphones are sold.