The Age of Media Agnosticism
According to Nielsen, the average American visited 87 domains and 2,600 Web pages in September. Outside the U.S., those numbers tend to be smaller, and fresh data indicates that just a few sites dominate the mix. Many rely on the news to find them rather than seeking it out - and those who do hunt for news are likely to do so via a single outlet of their choosing and/or via a search engine or even YouTube. It seems that, curiously, the diversity of the sites Americans frequent remains small even though their choices have grown infinitely.
In this essay I touch on why - faced with infinite choices, powerful search tools and equally helpful friends - Americans are adapting their habits and becoming less loyal to general sources than ever before, and why engaged companies can still find relevance in social spaces and influence their stakeholders in this Age of Media Agnosticism.
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Comments 8 Comments
The upshot in your article does indeed benefit the engaged company, but I am not so sure about how it serves the rest of us.
I would disagree with the insular and narrow minded statement. If anything the Internet promotes Globalization. Individually people may travel to specific sources because humans are creatures of habit. But 87 domains is a considerable amount. I'm sure they are getting news from other sources as well.
Consider the way that Facebook Connect and Open ID are heading. If we carry our profiles with us wherever we go, then every website we visit has the ability to skew their messaging and content so that it is going to be the most relevant to our particular interests and opinions. Obviously this is where marketing has the potential of becoming incredibly precise in its targeting. But it also suggests that you could go through your media existence without ever crossing paths with an opposing view.
Of course, you could argue further that we do this in the analog world with the newspapers and magazines and TV that we choose to watch. Perhaps it is not all that different? Just a little more intense.
It sure feels to me that social media, search and niche verticals have already preempted the one to many paradigm for news selection. This only confirms that news sources have utterly lost their agenda setting role. PR just became vastly more complex, if potentially more effective and more interesting. And shared culture may have forever seen its continent transformed into an archipelago.
You are an adventurous man, Steve Rubel!
I am especially drawn to the insights you triggered Dara Bell to share here.