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April 18, 2004
The web is about persuasion, not information
In our research we continue to find that virtually all web sites have a persuasive purpose. In other words, those who create websites usually want to influence your attitude or behavior in some way. Nobody wants this to be true, but it is. The web is not about sharing information with people -- that's an illusion. In reality, the web is about changing people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We've recently analyzed the leading websites, and we'll be ready to share our results soon.Posted by at April 18, 2004 06:48 PM
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Comments
Interesting work and perspective, I've read several papers on the site this afternoon and plan to read more soon.
I agree that most web sites seek to persuade, while users of the web either want to be entertained or are seeking knowledge/guidance. I'm interested in your perspective on how the concepts Pine & Gilmore outline in "The Experience Economy" add a "customers perspective" to those who seek to persuade using the web.
-- Michael
Posted by: Michael Archuleta at June 6, 2005 11:05 AM
"The web is not about sharing information with people. That's an illusion."
This seems a bold generalization.
"we'll be ready to share our results soon."
And this an ironic conflict.
Posted by: Jeff Schuler at June 6, 2005 11:05 AM
This is an interesting observation. When you think about it, nearly all sites are indeed trying to persuade to varying degrees. What criteria do you use to gage the level of persuasion of a given site? How do you measure a site's persuasiveness?
Posted by: Ray Nosko at June 6, 2005 11:05 AM