The New State of Play for Media

Social media is coming to eat classic - "old" - media. Literally. How else can one interpret recent events on the world stage? And no, this is not a "they are taking away all the advertising revenue" argument. It's much more serious than that.

Ben Thompson had an inspiring post on Stratechery about "Inspired Media" - please go read it. I urge you. The basic argument of it is that if you're fx a politician running for election and you think you can use yesterdays playbook for campaigning - nurturing relationships with reporters, buying tons of TV ads for broad distribution etc. - there is a fairly good chance you'll end up losing. Because the power of being able to persuade and reinforce positions has shifted to social media channels.

Winning an argument is no longer about the facts of the matter. It's about stoking emotion and passion. And as Ben correctly points out emotion leads towards the edges - towards extremist views and behaviour.

In a lot of ways it's heartening to see how "old" media is coming out and starting to realize the real position they are in. Unfortunately, there is every chance that they will end up trivializing the issue in expectation of if not an easy then at least a short term fix that will tilt the balance back towards something that resembles equilibrium. They are still very much part on elite without any real sense of idea about what goes on in the world outside their bubble.

For those I suggest printing out my drawing on top - enlarge it if you will - and hang it on your wall. Or better yet: Put it in a frame on your desk or as your background image on your laptop. Because, dear media, this is the world you're living in, whether you like it or not. And fixing it is neither going to be easy or something that just gets solved overnight.