Re:Algorithms are changing what we read online
by dangus on Tuesday September 15, 2020 @03:20AM
(#24478690)
Ultimately I think what this author is describing is actually more of a tale of one employer‘s crummy management style.
Interesting niche content like the author writes is exploding. In contrast, it sounds to me like this particular outlet is missing out on the opportunity to provide niche and offbeat content by bean counting.
In other words, I’d hesitate
to assume that all digital media outlets are blindly chasing “engagement” without making any other considerations. I would think that big legacy media companies are easily led off a cliff by “doing what everyone else is doing.”
We are in the infancy of digital media, as much as it seems like it’s been around for a long time at this point. Many outlets, especially traditional ones, are ultimately still doing “the wrong things” that digital media firms in 2050 will look back on as being primitive and crude.
One last point: while the “flip through the pages of the paper and discover odd topics on art and culture” is dead, that doesn’t mean the interest and readership is dead. What’s dead is the idea that institutions like The Times or The Globe have any relevance in acting as aggregators of that content.
Interesting niche content like the author writes is exploding. In contrast, it sounds to me like this particular outlet is missing out on the opportunity to provide niche and offbeat content by bean counting.
In other words, I’d hesitate to assume that all digital media outlets are blindly chasing “engagement” without making any other considerations. I would think that big legacy media companies are easily led off a cliff by “doing what everyone else is doing.”
We are in the infancy of digital media, as much as it seems like it’s been around for a long time at this point. Many outlets, especially traditional ones, are ultimately still doing “the wrong things” that digital media firms in 2050 will look back on as being primitive and crude.
One last point: while the “flip through the pages of the paper and discover odd topics on art and culture” is dead, that doesn’t mean the interest and readership is dead. What’s dead is the idea that institutions like The Times or The Globe have any relevance in acting as aggregators of that content.