They are extremely addictive. Repeat users describe an adrenaline rush, followed by rapid mood swings that fluctuate between exhilaration, and anxiety, self-doubt and despair. They also report high stress levels.
In our brave new big data world, web metrics, the statistics that measure page views, unique visitors, bounce rates, engagement time, tweets, Facebook “Likes,” and a host of other things, have become proxies for an organization’s effectiveness.
But after reading several critiques of current analytics tools, including reports by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University where I am based, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and a fascinating study by Columbia University’s Tow Center on Digital Journalism on the emotional and behavioral impact metrics can have on employees and organizations, I wanted to take a deeper dive.