158: Promote engagement not addiction

Meeting a customer need is a legitimate service. Getting customers addicted to your service is drug dealer behavior.

I got to the pool very early this morning because I couldn't get back to sleep, and while I counted my laps I was wondering about AI and the future of publishing and whether I should change careers and start selling bespoke liqueurs. I finished my laps early, so I went to Dunkin Donuts to get a cup of coffee and think about today's podcast.

Earlier I'd read an article on the hazards of social media – how they use psychological tricks to keep you on the site, so they can sell more ads and get more information about you – so they can keep you on the site longer and show you more ads. The goal is addiction.

As I sipped my coffee I went to mediamakersmeet.com and read an article on how to keep readers “engaged on your site,” which reminded me of the social media article.

And then I looked at my coffee.

Dunkin Donuts isn't trying to keep me “engaged” with their store. They’re not using Vegas-style tricks to keep me in my seat so they can play more ads. They just sell me my coffee and we’re done.

They do want me “engaged” in some ways. Just as a book publisher hopes the reader will enjoy the whole book and come back for another, Dunkin wants me to enjoy my whole coffee, and they want me to come back every morning. That’s unlikely because (1) I’m poor and can’t afford that, and (2) I drink decaf, so addiction isn’t really on the table.

It's still a very different model than the social media model. Dunkin is giving me what I want and then expecting me to go about my day.

This contrast applies to publishers because engagement is a key metric for subscription success. If people aren’t using your content they won't renew, and renewal is the lifeblood of the subscription model.

But there are two kinds of engagement. The good kind is when I'm enjoying the experience and learning every step of the way. Like watching a really good documentary. Another good side to the documentary is that it comes to an end. It doesn’t try to keep me glued to the TV all day long.

The bad kind of engagement is what you get on recipe sites, where they tell you everything you don't want to know about the recipe just to keep you on their site so you see more ads. You’re “engaged,” but you hate it.

Most readers don't want to be “engaged,” let alone “addicted.” They want to get their answer and move along. Like the Dunkin Donuts coffee. And like the coffee, they might want to come back regularly.

“Attention” and “engagement” are the mantras of the Adtech world. “Keep them on the site, mine their personal information and show them as many ads as possible for as long as possible.”

It reminds me of cancer. It’s something that grows without any restraint.

There are legitimate reasons to want someone to pay attention to and engage with your content. You might want to get into the customer’s workflow and help them solve a problem, or keep them up to date on a regular basis. Done the right way, it shows that you’re delivering a product that fulfills the customer’s need.

Bad engagement is when you’re not trying to satisfy a legitimate need. You promote consumption just so you can show more ads, or get more data. Bad engagement has the marks of cancer and addiction.

This is yet another way that Ad Tech and Big Tech have distorted the publishing ecosystem. They take a legitimate thing and push it too far.

Links

Social Media Must Move Beyond a Broken Ad Revenue Business Model
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/social-media-must-move-beyond-broken-ad-revenue-business-model-1234919543/

“Keeping readers engaged within a website’s walls”: How AI is revolutionizing publisher search
https://mediamakersmeet.com/keeping-readers-engaged-within-a-websites-walls-how-ai-is-revolutionising-publisher-search/