Author: Michael Higdon | 07.08.2009

The simple answer is “basically the same way.” Reading online and in print is not so different as we think. I’ll breakdown what I think is the way people consume information.

But first some context. At the Newspaper Association of AmericaNews Challenge Fellowship I attended in June at the Reynolds School of Journalism, two presentations enraged me. The presenters, one a vice president of interactive media at a major news company, and the other a researcher for NAA tried to tell us young people “don’t read the news” and only print is capable of having a “serendipitous,” “magical” experience.

Among the infuriating things both presentations said were what I think are main misconceptions with the way people consume information, leading to the root of news’ problem with understanding users. They said:

• The web is not serendipitous
• Young people like flashy graphics and lots of text, like Facebook
• Teens need to be taught to use news
• “News junkies” like lots of news
• People gain experience with news, thus, are better at consuming it

I would like to provide those as context but address them in another post.  

More specifically, the NAA Youth Research was started on these and other false premises. In a “qualitative, in-depth study of 65 Chicago-area teens” conducted by the Media Management Center at Northwestern University, the study found things I thought most of us already knew and that don’t appear to apply exclusively to any age group.

According to the executive summary:

• “Serious” news isn’t that important to teens right now.
• Local news sites aren’t much on their radar screens.
• Even so, teens are “interestable.” They read what catches their eye.

The research found characteristics of news web sites that teens like:

• They are easy to use.
• They give teens useful information.
• They’re seen as trustworthy.
• They provide things to talk about with friends or family.

Researchers also found that teens don’t view their favorite news sites as being a “treat,” a “time-out,” an escape, a safe place, or a place to socialize, get involved, contribute or connect. And they don’t feel very strongly about online ads, positively or negatively. News sites are for news; social sites are for social. They are two different things.

Those are the summary reasons (read the rest here in PDF).

So let’s get this straight: Only teens don’t like frustrating, hard to use websites, only teens don’t like irrelevant, useless information, only teens don’t like liars and only teens want to use information they find for more than personal knowledge?

I don’t understand how the website suggestions are any different than how anyone at any age would like to read. The NAA and Northwestern did not identify how teenagers read, they identified a type of reader that happens to be slightly more common among young people.

In my research and personal usability testing, I’ve discovered two overarching type of readers: Surfers and Drillers. Underneath that, I’ve identified others. However, Innovation in Newspapers 2009 publication (PDF costs money) labeled them more clearly, so I will use theirs in the below descriptions.

Surfers

Surfers are more common among older people but not uncommon in younger generations.

In print, you’ll notice surfers are the people who will spend time with a publication, turning from page to page, scanning headlines, decks, cutlines, etc. Surfers are the people we talk about when we talk about the serendipitous experience of newspapers. They find headlines “by accident.”

On the web,surfers do pretty much the same thing. They love NYT.com’s homepage and its quick reader because it’s full of headlines they can, get this, serendipitously discover. They will read a story, then click “home” on a site to find another story. Surfers almost completely ignore navigation and always go back to a homepage to start anew.

Surfers are what NAA refers to as “news junkies” or people with “news experience.” That’s a false assumption. Surfers are more willing to look for information. Doesn’t have to be news. It can be anything. News sites just have the most information so they are the most useful.

What NAA calls “information to talk about to family and friends” is known as Social Capital. It’s basically information that provides value within a social network (this is why Sharing on Facebook and Twitter is valuable).

Drillers

Drillers are oppositely more common in young people and less common in older people. This, I believe, is due to the fact that young people are more used to computers and are able to literally click faster. Older people (50+) not used to computer are slower and more deliberate, giving them more time to read, this makes them into surfers usually. Older people are more patient with computers and web sites while young people are not.

In print, drillers are those you’ve observed throwing away sections of the newspaper to get to a particular section (usually sports or business). Drillers will read sports scores/stocks and main stories. They will skim headlines to find something specific, such as a name, company, event, etc.

On the web,drillers Google. Drillers demand good SEO and good search engines to locate good SEO. Drillers will drill deep into a subject and research it or find the most comprehensive article then stop reading all together on that topic. They may drill down several hundred times a day, but they are not surfing. They use navigation to find what they are looking for. They chronically close browser windows and open a new one to find something else.

I, for example, am buying a TV, so I’ve drilled down on BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, Samsung.com and other sites for about a week now. I’m looking for a very specific type of TV with certain features, I’m not looking to be serendipitously interrupted by some other TV by a brand I don’t like. Similarly with news.

Sub-types of readers

Online, Innovations in Newspapers has identified a few types of users (not readers) in the article “The Community Newsroom” by Chris O’Brien and Juan Senor (consultants for INNOVATION International Media Consulting):

• Passive consumers are people who just receive news and information.
• Commenters are people who will post comments on stories, post reviews or react in some fashion
• Networkers are those who will actively join a site, aggregate content or connect with other readers
• Creators will actively create higher level content such as photos, videos, blog posts

These are pretty straight forward in description but elusive as people and as target markets.

Not one person with one habit

 The problem, or advantage, is that someone isn’t exclusively a passive surfer or a commenting drilleror just a commenter or a driller. Some people are only one type of user but most rotate between these different user habits depending on the topic. A driller can drill for, TVs, then buy one and become a commenter, networker and creator about that TV. A surfer can find something fascinating and become a driller about any given topic.

Anyone can serendipitously find something and switch from a driller to a surfer or a surfer to a driller.

Most news sites are designed for really patient surfers, that’s one reason young people aren’t reading them but that’s also why a lot of other people aren’t reading them. That’s why blogs and Google are necessary, they access other reader habits. They aggregate and assemble things.

I’ll discuss more about the NAA findings and suggestions and more about web design and reader habits in a later post.