The new "Chaplin" era

The old "nobody knows anything" attitude about the web is giving way to increasing recognition that emotional, compelling content and storytelling is proving to be decisive in drawing audiences online.

The story “structures” will be different (as television is from radio, as cinema is from print, print is from online) but structures will be found.

We are still in the “Charlie Chaplin era” of a new medium, but the Chaplin figures are out there trying to understand and write the rules right now.

Some early patterns show promise in attracting and engaging audiences online.

Successful online content producers:

Think a lot about the user experience and design content and platforms based on that.

Actively engage with their audiences and build infrastructures for that to happen.

Change program elements quickly in response to selected audience comments.

Budget more on distribution and promoting content, less on production values.

Have a solid understanding of how search drives audience to content.

Are moving away from online display ads and more toward paid subscriptions.

Seek creative partnerships with corporations and funders, not just “sponsors.”

While TV is as big as it ever was, more people are watching it the way they want to, on their computers and small screens.

The challenge for content creators and those who fund them is to identify the patterns and rules that work best to express content in the new online medium, especially for smaller screens as PCs begin to fade from the scene.