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As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

economist.com

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Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#101

Post by faeriechangling »

spiderice wrote: post #84
dragonwriter wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even Bill Maher agrees. Bill Maher is a shallow elite contrarian, not a progressive that it would make sense to say “Even” about when he agrees with criticism of something perceived to be on the left.

I love how now that he disagrees he's suddenly "not a progressive".

Bill Maher back around 9/11 had a slide deck act where he justified racial profiling in airports with a picture of a fundamentalist Muslim in traditional garb going through airport security. He once literally hosted a talk show called "Politically Incorrect"

He has always been "I'm leftist, but I have a politically incorrect anti-establishment edge.". He has been saying things like this for decades.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#102

Post by Vomzor »

dehrmann wrote: post #93
hmsshagatsea wrote: post #13

How about hollywood starts making GOOD content again?

I was definitely spoiled by movies when I was growing up. Because of industry circumstances, 1999 was a very good year for movies. I can't think of recent movies that would be considered this generation's "Fight Club," "The Matrix," or "Office Space." On the plus side, there's currently a plethora of adequately entertaining movies for long-haul flights. Some reading on 1999: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movi…

One of my favorites from 1999 is October Sky. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132477/

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#103

Post by kelnos »

hogFeast wrote: post #61
citizenpaul wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> amazed that companies haven't figured out that advertisements are far less effective than they claim to be I was once asked to do some stats on the marketing effectiveness of a company I was at. Not my job but I really hated a couple of the people in the marketing dept so I went at the task anyway. I had long had suspicious that the advertising was mostly smoke and mirrors so I was glad to find out that I was right…

This depends very heavily on the product. With some products, for example food, you have to win your customer back every month. Additionally, it is often very difficult to correlate certain kinds of ads to sales...but if you look at the marketing investment over decades in some industries, it is probably the only source of competitive advantage. That being said, given that most people here work for tech companies, I…

I think sales is essential if you have a B2B product and want to sell to larger enterprises. Most of them will not seek you out, and you need someone who can do a deal tailored to each enterprise's needs and wants, and maintain the relationship going forward.

But otherwise I agree.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#104

Post by spaetzleesser »

citizenpaul wrote: post #47
grae_QED wrote: post #18

Good. I hope they all go out of business. Their predatory practices are the reason why social media is so toxic. I'm honestly amazed that companies haven't figured out that advertisements are far less effective than they claim to be and they are probably over spending on them [1]. [1] https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/research/resear...

> amazed that companies haven't figured out that advertisements are far less effective than they claim to be I was once asked to do some stats on the marketing effectiveness of a company I was at. Not my job but I really hated a couple of the people in the marketing dept so I went at the task anyway. I had long had suspicious that the advertising was mostly smoke and mirrors so I was glad to find out that I was right…

On the other hand a good marketing person is worth gold. In one company I contracted at they had a marketing person who was super proactive and really worked social media , the press and other channels. She pretty much singlehandedly made the company into a known player in their field. Same probably goes for good salespeople. But there aren’t too many people of that caliber. Most just go through the motions.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#105

Post by krapp »

slibhb wrote: post #98
krapp wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The black and white couple with only gay Asian children under 10 with a Latino teenager makes everything into a farce. That doesn't happen. No one is writing movies where people who aren't Latino just have Latino children to score "progressive points" or whatever. Interracial couples do exist. Asians and Latinos exist, and their portrayal in media isn't any more "progressive" than portraying any other race or ethni…

> I doubt there is anyone in any minority group who feels mocked by greater representation. But, as a Gay Black Asian Latino yourself, you can probably tell us what it's like. Are you unfamiliar with the concept of tokenism? To me and to many others, though not to you, certain parts seem to exist purely to collect diversity points. This seems like pandering to me, and I expect it is insulting to anyone who views it t…

Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere.

It's like, you can have Asians OR Latinos OR Blacks OR gays but no more than two, and they can't stack, and you definitely can't rewrite an existing character to represent some other race, religion, gender, sex or nationality even if you yourself are of that race, religion, gender, sex or nationality. That's a narrow minded view and unfortunately a common one.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#106

Post by kelnos »

paulpauper wrote: post #82
grae_QED wrote: post #18

Good. I hope they all go out of business. Their predatory practices are the reason why social media is so toxic. I'm honestly amazed that companies haven't figured out that advertisements are far less effective than they claim to be and they are probably over spending on them [1]. [1] https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/research/resear...

People were predicting this a decade ago, such as after Facebook ipo. Many huge companies do not care about roi in the same way small biz does. They just want to spend as much as possible to get the word out about a new product.

Put another way, I think after a certain amount of money, the owners (or executives, really) of these sorts of companies are more interested in power projection and influence than they are in immense profitability for the companies they run.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#107

Post by rsynnott »

spiderice wrote: post #84
dragonwriter wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even Bill Maher agrees. Bill Maher is a shallow elite contrarian, not a progressive that it would make sense to say “Even” about when he agrees with criticism of something perceived to be on the left.

I love how now that he disagrees he's suddenly "not a progressive".

I mean, he's long been primarily a conspiracy theorist, surely?

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#108

Post by drewg123 »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #4

Ratings for sporting events are down dramatically. People generally aren't returning to movie theaters. According to the article, overall media consumption is up 30 minutes per week, which makes me wonder if what happened was mostly a case of habit destruction. Now that habits have been disturbed, trends that were already taking place were accelerated. Is there any reason to think people will break their new habits t…

Movie theaters can't go out of business soon enough for me.

I hate being trapped with rude people talking and using their phones during the movie. Not to mention people who don't believe in baby sitters, and bring their infant or toddler along for a good scream fest in the middle of the show. And don't get me started on loud eaters, flatulent people, etc.

I think they've been on borrowed time since the 80s, when video stores got big. First run movies are their only hook now, and they're loosing even that with movies like Black Widow premiering on streaming. I hope more films premiere on streaming.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#109

Post by rsynnott »

spiderice wrote: post #86
Animats wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Fog in channel, continent isolated". Really, though, the Economist isn't isolationist. As Fauci once said, "the virus sets the timetable". The Delta variant is a big worry. R0 is 8 to 9. If hospitals get overwhelmed, there may be lockdowns again, at least for unvaccinated people.

You can't realistically have lockdowns for unvaccinated people. People who don't get vaccinated are the same people who have the biggest problem with lockdowns. They simply won't do it.

Well, you kind of _can_, to some extent. Here, for instance, you need a vaccine cert to go indoors in pubs and restaurants (unvaccinated people can still eat outside). That said, there obviously won't be the political will for that everywhere; even before this was introduced Ireland only had 5-10% of people saying they wouldn't get vaccinated, so it wasn't a huge deal.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#110

Post by drewg123 »

akudha wrote: post #7
briefcomment wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

N=1, I spend all my media time on Youtube. Haven't watched a show in years. Watched some of the NBA playoffs though. Also watched Tenet in a huge empty theater.

I wonder if this will result in more outrageous, more clickbait junk from media outlets, desperate for audience attention. Even more than it is now. I am spending more time on YouTube too. I used to watch Netflix, but it has been downhill last 3 years or so.

I alternate between YT and Netflix.

The problem I have with YT is the paralysis of choice in deciding which of a zillion videos to watch. When I have a show to binge, its much easier to just jump into it relax without thinking about what to watch

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