The Endless Search For Wow

Seth Godin wrote a thought piece on his blog recently about click-click culture and how brands and even publishers like the Huffington Post and Time Magazine are damaging the quality of their product in the pursuit of internet traffic. He says that the web seems to have made a culture of clickers, stumblers and jaded spectators who decide in the space of a moment whether to watch and participate (or not) – and that business needs to decide to talk to the people who want to listen not how many people want to drop by.

Imagine if people went to the theatre or the movies and stood up and walked out after the first six seconds. Imagine if people went to the senior prom and bailed on their date three seconds after the car pulled away from the curb.

…More and more often, we’re seeing products and services coming to market designed to appeal to the momentary attention of the clickers. The Huffington Post has downgraded itself, pushing thoughtful stories down the page in exchange for linkbait and sensational celebrity riffs. This strategy gets page views, but does it generate thought or change?

If you create (or market) should you be chasing the people who click and leave? Or is it like trying to turn a cheetah into a house pet? Is manipulating the high-voltage attention stream of millions of caffeinated web surfers a viable long-term strategy?

Seth Godin: Driveby culture and the endless search for wow