258cib - 2:02 pm on Apr 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

For the last five years I have worked with web news and "knowledge management" efforts. I'm hanging it up.

The web is more like the yellow pages than a magazine or a newspaper. It's more like a phone than TV and radio.

The smart players on the web have figured this out. Google is targeting tighter and tighter. There is less and less serendipity. You get what you are looking for from search, you hear from who you want to on email and you read about what you want to read about on the news. And that's it.

And that's great.

Except that the vast majority of marketing (over 80 percent) is about talking to you about something you are not thinking about. You're happy with your beer? No, you are not, and we want to talk about it! Don't need a new car? Yes, you do and we want to explain why. Sex life OK? Ha, you don't know what you're missing...

While this is accepted about marketing, what many (i.e., me) have not realized is that journalism is same. You want the scores from last night's game? OK, but read about war, too. You want the comics? Fine, but there was a fire on the other side of the city you need to know about. Looking for election results? Here they are, and did you know that there is a flu outbreak in the area?

The real estate on the computer screen can have room for all of the marketing messages and journalism that make up a community, but users seldom use it in that way and I don't think they're going to approach their laptops like a newspaper any time soon--if ever. The computer allows the user to be in complete control, for better or for worse. For most (but certainly not all) marketers and journalists, it's worse.

So, bye to the web biz. It has been <ahem> interesting. Many of you are doing wonderful, worthwhile work. As a user, I appreciate it. And I hope you get paid what you deserve for your efforts.

Me? I'm going back to print full time starting May 1. Ya'll be good and take care of yourself--no one else will.