Readers' promiscuity and Serbian media on the web

"The Internet has brought a revolution in journalism" – this claim is repeated in 90% of articles analyzing the transition of traditional media (the press and TV) to the web. Journalists and managers from the "old media" are aware of this, but what have they done about it?

All of the "old media" outlets in Serbia, and almost all of them around the world, are in a period of transition. They are struggling to accept the fact that in the 21st century paper will be used mostly in toilets, and that "waiting for something to happen on the TV" will become history. When audio CD came about, there has remained a segment of audiophiles who did not want to lose that crackling sound of vinyl. The same thing is happening with newspapers. For a while, we will witness a resistance of traditionalists who can only imagine reading newspapers while having a morning coffee in their gardens. Because of them, newspapers will be printed on paper for the next few decades, eventually becoming a part of a retro "steampunk" aesthetics, just like the circus, typewriter or sepia photographs of Tesla's experiments in Colorado Springs.

In this transitional period, traditional journalists will gradually begin to understand the differences, the advantages and downsides of the new media, the Internet. Since I have founded and successfully run a few local media outlets that have never had a paper or a TV edition, you may find it interesting to read some thoughts written by someone who has never worked for the "old media".

First, let us consider the end users that are the reason for all this – the readers.

Behavior of web readers differs greatly from what you have became used to. There is a metaphor that illustrates the difference.

Imagine finding yourself in a supermarket, in front of a huge rack with all of the daily newspapers, weeklies, monthly magazines, special editions, everything that exists in the market.

Now imagine that you can freely take any of these magazines at any moment. Imagine that this supermarket is always available to you in your apartment, at your workplace... wherever you are, this huge rack follows you like a shadow, offering all the latest editions. And everything is free.

This is the Internet. This is how readers feel on the Internet.

For this reason, the main problem now facing the media is the promiscuity of readers. The loyalty towards a brand was much stronger in the past. When someone buys a newspaper, however cheap, he feels that he made a purchase and feels obliged to read it.

That is how we have been taught from the young age. If you go into a bar and order a drink, you will not leave until you finish it, even if you are late for an important meeting. If you paid for it, you will consume it completely. On the other side, how do people behave while at parties, where drinks are free? They take a drink, then the second one, and the third, without completing any of them... They take a sip and leave the glass at the table... they throw away their cigarettes in full glasses of drink when they cannot find an ashtray... you have seen it yourself.

In order to run a successful media outlet on the Internet, you must accept this fundamental human behavior. The "old media" are persistent in their attempt to fight human affinities and to keep their audience for themselves. This is their main error.

Since we are Internet marketing professionals, we have been aware from the beginning that we have to operate just like the successful media in the West: instead of trying to retain the visitors at our website, we do the opposite – we help them to leave it. This is a principle that traditional journalists cannot understand and probably never will, since it goes against their fundamental values.

What does this mean in practice?

Well, whenever possible, you should add links to Wikipedia, YouTube, valuable external sources of information, bloggers who have written good articles about the subject... We even offer links to our competition if they have high-quality articles. Why not? If you are aware that after reading a text about Steve Jobs a huge number of our readers will visit Google, search who he is and read Wikipedia's article on him, why not help them do it? Make yourself a link to Wikipedia's entry on Steve Jobs. Help your readers and they will love you. Go with the flow on the web, harmonize yourself with readers' behavior and you will become an authority for them, not because you are the best on the Internet, but because you can help them to find the best information. In time, people's minds will associate you with positive feelings and you will acquire readers' loyalty precisely because you did not want to make them loyal to you. You have not been selfish, you took their needs into account and they will love you.

This is a winning strategy on the Internet, that has proven itself countless times. Unfortunately, after analyzing the behavior of the local media on the Internet, I feel like there is a stereotypical egomaniacal director with a toothpick in his mouth, yelling at his employees: "And don't you dare to advertise other websites! Wikipedia and those bloggers will have to pay us if they want us to post their links on our site!"

In any case, this is a chance for the media made by "new people" who understand this paradigm. On the online media market in Serbia, we will witness the arrival of true brands that will not have anything to do with the press and TV and they will take the position of today's "web newspapers". Just watch.

Istok Pavlovic

About the authors

MC Newsletter, July 16, 2010