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But what if I want a faster horse?

(rakhim.exotext.com)
1525 points saeedesmaili | 2 comments | 11 Apr 25 11:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.433s | source
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furyg3 ◴[11 Apr 25 12:19 UTC] No.43652977[source]▶
The TikTok-ification of advertising supported platforms is terrible, but makes sense to me. LinkedIn pivoted from making money on subscriptions and fees for job postings to ads, which mean the leading drivers are 'engagement' e.g. time you spend doom scrolling on their platform. This will end in disaster for the platform as a place to find jobs or employees.

Netflix I understand much less. They make money from subscriptions. If you perceive having a fantastic experience on the site by just going there, finding something you enjoy watching, and leaving... they win. Why they would foster a doom-scrolling experience I really can't really explain, other than imagining some dark pattern like they have to pay per view and want you to watch C grade movies? More time spent looking for something to watch means less time streaming?

I don't get it.

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teeray ◴[11 Apr 25 12:26 UTC] No.43653022[source]▶
> Why they would foster a doom-scrolling experience I really can't really explain

Because regardless of whether or not the business model depends upon it, investors have been trained that “engagement” is inherently good quality for their investments to have. Increase engagement, stonk price go up.

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lotsofpulp ◴[11 Apr 25 12:28 UTC] No.43653035[source]▶
The most valuable businesses have desirable net income trends, not “engagement”.
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1. kaoD ◴[11 Apr 25 12:59 UTC] No.43653281[source]▶
In the ad-tention economy, engagement means more eyes on your ads. Advertisers desire engagement which is therefore a proxy for future net income.

Then investors transposed that proxy to non ad-tention businesses, driving up engagement-rich stocks in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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2. teeray ◴[11 Apr 25 13:24 UTC] No.43653503[source]▶
Also, engagement is a measure of how rich the oil field is for enshittifying the platform to extract ad dollars.