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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”

#11

Post by brundolf »

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…

I'm looking forward to returning to a movie theater. Though only Alamo, which was really the only one I went to pre-pandemic anyway, because the rest of the industry was already in shambles. Alamo is the only chain I know of whose experience has evolved past "big screen and big speakers and overpriced snacks".

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

#12

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

ehnto wrote: post #9
akudha wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What's strange to me is that while YouTube seems to be stealing a lot of attention, the creators on the platform are so often complaining the platform and having to build out non-platform revenue streams in order for it to make sense. Is it that they expect more than their fair share, or is YouTube leveraging their creators more than they should, or are adblockers the issue? I'm not sure what it is, it just surprises…

I don't know if this is a case of fair or unfair, so much as there is a lot of potential value that isn't captured by YouTube ads, which the creators would be silly to leave on the table, but which Google has not historically been positioned to capture. The ability to join channels is an attempt to make inroads on that value, but it seems like it will take some doing before that vehicle catches up to Patreon if it ever does.

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

#15

Post by showerst »

ehnto wrote: post #9
akudha wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What's strange to me is that while YouTube seems to be stealing a lot of attention, the creators on the platform are so often complaining the platform and having to build out non-platform revenue streams in order for it to make sense. Is it that they expect more than their fair share, or is YouTube leveraging their creators more than they should, or are adblockers the issue? I'm not sure what it is, it just surprises…

Another possibility you didn't mention is that many creators aren't creating as much value as they think they're worth.

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

#18

Post by grae_QED »

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...

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

#19

Post by kmlx »

hmsshagatsea wrote: post #13

How about hollywood starts making GOOD content again?

not sure if this is coming back anytime soon:

1. games are a much bigger market than movies, which makes hollywood even more risk averse than usual

2. superhero movies make most income, sucking up all the talent

3. huge emphasis on TV series in the last decade, again sucking up all the talent

for these three reasons i’m not sure if i’ll see another sin city/training day/etc in the near future

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

#20

Post by anonfornoreason »

I’d be interested in seeing a regional breakdown of media consumption trends. Echoing several other comments, my media consumption habits were broken during 2020. People in the Pacific Northwest flooded outdoors and started camping and doing other outdoor activities at a record pace. That alone had to have shifted demand for passive media consumption. Obviously tv shows and movies are different from checking online news nonstop (something that was driven higher during pandemic) so any insights would have to be broken out by medium and type.
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