When you wonder "why is [NEW FORMAT] suddenly a thing?", the dynamic is always the same. Early advertising is fantastically lucrative. Once the stampede to the format starts in earnest, the margin drops quickly, and the cycle will have to repeat. It's driven by novelty.
https://twitter.com/JayCoDon/status/1385617258353922055
The motor on both sides of the ledger is hope. Writers/broadcasters hope they finally found an ad model that pays the bills without being hateful to the audience. Advertisers hope they have found a new model that leads to terrific engagement. But all that's left is a hangover
The long term results are more entrenched surveillance (since every new ad model needs a new story about why it's different and better) and a gold rush culture where nothing gets to put down roots because everyone moves to the next Klondike
Remember when every news site "pivoted to video" a few years back, or when podcast mattress ads took over, or when everything became an app? Same dynamic. The only island of respite and tranquility in this world is Pinboard
The reason I want to add newsletter support to the site is not because I believe in them, but precisely because I don't. That stuff will disappear without a trace otherwise. Archivists walk behind the elephant parade of the New Economy with shovels, trying to salvage what we can
Zooming out, the "chasing new formats" pathology in online publishing is another symptom of too much capital with no place to go. The investors get sold on a dream. Other people act rationally, chasing whatever formats those investors are subsidizing at a big loss for the moment.
As always, the biggest profit is to be made effectively selling new dreams to the investors. It's become a highly refined art form and the great creative legacy of our era. But why is all this surplus money bottled up and useless, instead of in my pocket? That part stymies me.
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