Engagement Products: What Is The Future of Comment Sections? PLUS UK Online National News Brands and Mags to Recoup 2020 Losses This Year

July 30, 2021

Comment sections seem to be relic of the Web 2.0 era, but one thing that strikes me is how editors express a lack of understanding of their purpose. Back in the day, the idea was that more engaged readers would spend more time on site. It never quite worked out that way because comment sections were mostly passive, and as resources were stretched, the time and effort to, let's be honest, police rather than host engaging conversations outstripped any measurable ROI. I still think that comment spaces can be part of an engaged audience strategy, just look at KPCC in Los Angeles (PDF). But without a clear strategy, commenting spaces have languished and mostly been outsourced to social media platforms. It's a good piece worth looking at, especially through a product lens.

Good summaries of research from the Reuters Institute and Pew in the US about trends in media, especially the pandemic-driven acceleration of digitalisation.

Plus a good roundup of digital media developments including how LinkedIn plans to use premium publishers as a way to drive its subscription services, a surge in podcast ad revenue growth for Spotify as well as six-figure downloads for Greenroom, Spotify's Clubhouse clone.

What's the purpose of a comment section?

For anyone who has worked in this space, this should seem self-evident, but it's interesting to see nonetheless. "The purpose of comment sections is not always clear to the public, and without direction, these spaces can become hotbeds of intolerance."

The Beacon has plans to create a regional network of nonprofit newsrooms across Kansas and Missouri.

An interesting look at a start-up news group in the US. They have raised a lot of philanthropic funds to get them to this point, and they are working to diversify their revenue streams. The foundation and philanthropic cash demonstrates a renewed sense of urgency about the state of local news in the US.

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

The picture isn't so rosy for non-online news brands. On a percentage basis, the online spend really pops.

The annual Reuter’s Digital News Report, the 2021 edition of which was released a few weeks ago, discusses the accelerated digitisation of the media industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, the digitisation of the media has been in progress for many decades, but in the wake of the expected economic downturn caused by […]

We’ve updated our series of fact sheets on the U.S. news media industry. Here are some key findings about the state of the industry in 2020.

The pandemic forced news organisations to accelerate their digitalisation and their reader revenue efforts. The growth in revenue is strongest in countries that have a history of paid subscriptions.

LinkedIn would like to broaden its premium membership, and it’s hoping that access to paywalled content from premium publishers will help.

'The days of our ad business accounting for less than 10% of our total revenue are behind us, and going forward, I expect ads to be a substantial part of our revenue mix,' CEO Daniel Ek said.

Pedestrian Group has launched Refinery29, a global media and entertainment destination focused on women and underrepresented voices.

Spotify’s recently launched live audio app and Clubhouse rival, Spotify Greenroom, has a long road ahead of it if it wants to take on top social audio platforms like Clubhouse, Airtime, Spoon and others, not to mention those from top social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. To date, the new Greenroom app has only been […]