and it gets its content, similar to Google, from its…
““and it gets its content, similar to Google, from its users. In other words, more than a billion customers labor for Facebook without compensation. By comparison, the big entertainment companies must spend billions to create original content. Netflix is shelling out more than $100 million for each season of The Crown and will spend $6 billion on content in 2017 (50 percent more than either NBC or CBS).26 Yet Facebook competes for our attention, and wins it, with pictures of fourteen-month-old Max curled up with his new Vizsla puppy. This is fascinating to a small audience, maybe two hundred or three hundred friends, but that’s enough. It’s easy for the machine to aggregate, segment, and target.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Content creation costs differ; platforms leverage user-generated data to attract attention cheaply, while traditional media spend heavily on production.
In simple terms: Platforms use user data to compete with expensive media.
Key Takeaway
Leverage user data wisely.
Themes
media
attention
economics
media
data
economies
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
observational
analytical
When to use this quote
- digital marketing
- media strategy
- content budgeting
- advertising
- platform competition
Key Concepts
economics
media economics
attention economics
Questions to Reflect On
- How does user data shape our preferences?
- What are the risks of attention-driven platforms?
A Different Perspective
User-generated content may lack depth and quality.