3 ms·

The non-cynical take is that "stories" is the first content format since the "feed" that is really sticky and opens a new avenue for user interaction. Everyone

The non-cynical take is that "stories" is the first content format since the "feed" that is really sticky and opens a new avenue for user interaction. Everyone is adopting them because is now clear that it's not a fad. Consumers understand the concept of stories and actually engage heavily with them so nobody wants to miss out. Of course not all the implementations are good or useful, but from a user interaction perspective the functionality is becoming so widely familiar that it makes sense why everyone is adopting this format.

scrollaway 6y ago
I don't think the fact everyone is adopting them makes it not a fad. People have jumped on a lot of fads over the years. Hell, even animated gifs are losing a lot of popularity now; can you imagine thinking that 10y ago? More importantly, this is still driven by one or two big players using this format. If those players decide to innovate with the format, it could radically alter how people feel about it and it could lose in popularity, or it could change enough that Google's implementation becomes irrelevant unless they alter it significantly as well (which then gives more work downstream, which could make publishers stop bothering with it if they ever did). This feels super fragile and tbh looks more like a desperate play from Google than an adoptive one. In fact, you know what an adoptive one would look like to me? Having google start seriously indexing stories and be able to show them in rich media results. I think the difference is: one approach is ad driven, one is search driven.
mikro2nd 6y ago
When the discussion thread abounds with people who have no idea what this "stories" concept is about, and none of them seem to care to find out,... that's the first hint that you might want to question some of your assumptions.

3 ms·

The non-cynical take is that "stories" is the first content format since the "feed" that is really sticky and opens a new avenue for user interaction. Everyone

by whoisjuan 6y ago

scrollaway 6y ago
I don't think the fact everyone is adopting them makes it not a fad. People have jumped on a lot of fads over the years. Hell, even animated gifs are losing a lot of popularity now; can you imagine thinking that 10y ago? More importantly, this is still driven by one or two big players using this format. If those players decide to innovate with the format, it could radically alter how people feel about it and it could lose in popularity, or it could change enough that Google's implementation becomes irrelevant unless they alter it significantly as well (which then gives more work downstream, which could make publishers stop bothering with it if they ever did). This feels super fragile and tbh looks more like a desperate play from Google than an adoptive one. In fact, you know what an adoptive one would look like to me? Having google start seriously indexing stories and be able to show them in rich media results. I think the difference is: one approach is ad driven, one is search driven.
mikro2nd 6y ago
When the discussion thread abounds with people who have no idea what this "stories" concept is about, and none of them seem to care to find out,... that's the first hint that you might want to question some of your assumptions.