Secrets of the City

In these trying times, when page views can mean the life or death of a publication, many online newspapers are resorting to disruptive practices to increase numbers without considering the overall user experience. However, according to Ed Kohler — better know as (and for) The Deets — “they may also be driving away some of their most loyal readers as they become fed up with jumping through more and more hoops with no additional benefits.” (Kohler echoes Marco Arment’s Nov. 8 post about paginated articles.)

How do you feel about having to open multiple pages in order to read a full story? Certainly, one of the benefits of online news is the ease with which stories can include referential links to relevant news and/or back stories. But is this being abused when the so-called links are simply a continuation of the story, necessary for a clean read?

Let’s be fair, though, if we’re going to dis this practice, then what’s the solution to secure the publications’ survival. And let’s be honest, haven’t newspapers been taking these kinds of measures, in one form or another, since their inception? Let’s talk supplements, supplements, supplements. Let’s talk page jumps. Weren’t we just as annoyed having to flip through page after page to continue reading?

But more importantly (in that kind of ego-centric way to which we’ve all grown accustomed), what does this say about MNSpeak? The links certainly don’t gain us any page views, so the intention is good, but the format is certainly based on having to go to multiple pages to get a full story. Is this too disruptive? Or is this beautifully exploiting the power of the web?