Thinkcorps

Here’s a simple sketch. Without knowing anything about what type of site it that you’re running (imagine you’re a newly installed CEO, for example, they’re usually pretty oblivious) and given the limited information detailed below, which user would you rather have?

User A: spends 6 minutes on your site and generates 3 pageviews
User B: spends 30 minutes on your site and generates 24 pageviews

Second question: which user probably has a deeper relationship with your site?

In my admittedly simplistic sketch, User A has gone to a online magazine to read an article about a health condition. User B went to an active online health forum and had an interesting discussion with several other members about the same health condition.

After this one session, User A probably knows a little more about the condition, but User B has collected lots of advice, several new article and Web site recommendations, and some new online friends. Similarly, User A won’t engage the online magazine until an editor posts a new article (of interest), while User B is welcome to come back and chat about whatever’s on their mind at any time.

The definition of “media” hinges upon the word “communications”. User B clearly communicated more, gathered more information and forged a deeper relationship than User A. In addition, User B is free to return and deepen that relationship at any time, 24/7. User A has to wait for new articles to be published.

Admittedly, there are times when you want to be passive like User A, but more and more I think, we are becoming like User B—active consumers, armed with online tools that make being active almost as easy, and far more satisfying, as being passive.

This is why I’m having a hard time embracing traditional media business models.