The digital revolution means users have an ever greater influence over the shape of new media. These must adapt to the expectations of their audiences if they want to survive in a changing media market.
In the view of experts, media should focus on creating valuable and useful content and develop digital channels to give readers access to it from any place and at any time.
Users expect convenience and personalized content
– Media users are increasingly moving away from the push model, in which they reached for undifferentiated content, when buying newspapers at a newsstand or watching television their ability to select was limited to choosing a title or a channel – to the „pull” model, in which they want to decide what, where and when to watch or read. They want to consume content while walking or riding the subway. They want to listen to music, read e-books and magazines at any moment – Francesco Rainini, an innovation consultant at SAS, tells the Newseria news agency.
The difference in content consumption is therefore colossal.
– In the previous push model, information was „pushed” to audiences, who largely remained anonymous, and content creators received only limited feedback about the factors shaping demand. Today we have the pull model, in which it is the audience that decides and, in a much more transparent way, determines demand – stresses the SAS expert.
Modern media and content providers must react quickly to changes in audience behavior and preferences. If they want to stay in the market, they must increasingly use new technologies and digital channels to create valuable and better-profiled content. Digitalization and competition in the media market mean that audiences have a significant influence on the shape of contemporary media.
– Depending on what audiences expect, media can devote more space to specific topics. I think they should focus more on quality than quantity. In fact, today we have too many media in terms of quantity. A huge amount of information flows from all digital channels. We do not need more information, only better quality, that is, more content relevant to each of us – adds Francesco Rainini.
Quality is the most important thing
The expert notes that media should emphasize quality, not the quantity of content they produce. In the information deluge, they must ensure valuable and useful content in order to engage readers.
– The message should not be complicated, but true. It should evoke emotions and convey something important to users. That is what quality is about. Media should observe my behavior, know what I am looking for and try to give me answers on topics that interest me – believes Francesco Rainini.
In his opinion, facts and information are increasingly mixed with entertainment. New technologies will allow users to freely choose between these two segments and decide which content best meets their needs.
– New digital technologies that transmit in two directions – from sender to receiver and from receiver to sender – huge amounts of data, can be used to better understand what is important to each of us and to create better-tailored formats. I can imagine reading my favorite book on a mobile phone while music adapts to what I am reading. It is a mix of entertainment with culture, but both fulfill different roles – says the SAS expert.
„What’s the Future of Media & Entertainment”, that is, what future awaits the entertainment and media sector, was the main topic of the conference organized by Digital University, which attracted guests and speakers from Poland and abroad to Warsaw. Representatives of media, business and start-ups from both Poland and Europe discussed the standards of contemporary media, reader behavior, fake news and the media revolution.
