I think it's in part (and maybe mostly) because the current paradigm is immensely profitable.
Selling ads is significantly scalable and the algorithms are optimized to keep people on as long as possible - increasing ad views.
Also, the idea of trying new ad models is likely a non-starter from a business perspective of the established social companies because the current one is so effective (at the cost of the consumers mental well-being of course). At most, they would allocate money to R&D to investigate alternatives but I'm unaware of anything like this happening.
Although certainly a potential for a market entrance of authentic social companies with different models!
Great article. It's hard to grasp why social media companies haven't figured out an alternative business model to selling ads after all these years.
Thank you!
I think it's in part (and maybe mostly) because the current paradigm is immensely profitable.
Selling ads is significantly scalable and the algorithms are optimized to keep people on as long as possible - increasing ad views.
Also, the idea of trying new ad models is likely a non-starter from a business perspective of the established social companies because the current one is so effective (at the cost of the consumers mental well-being of course). At most, they would allocate money to R&D to investigate alternatives but I'm unaware of anything like this happening.
Although certainly a potential for a market entrance of authentic social companies with different models!