Summary and Audience

This week I participated in a discussion about newsletters. Specific topics ranged broadly: audience focus, free versus subscription at different levels, content curation, ad CPMs, and summary.

The question of summary arises from AI-based message handling. The presenter said he tries to produce content that defies summary, so that his full content reaches the audience. This seems in tension with broadening the audience.

As a recipient, I look at summary as a curation element. Strip the noise and deliver the signal. Show me what I want to see and exclude the rest. And each recipient will apply different criteria. If summary tools become good at matching those criteria, then each recipient will see a different summary.

Defying summary means delivering the same content to each recipient. Does that limit the audience? Is it possible to support high-quality summary instead, and would that appeal to a broader audience under individualized summary?

A quick search finds many services that summarize newsletter content and present a curated digest. What about pulling that upstream to the send side, thereby capturing more audience insight for the content producer?

I’m curious how this will unfold going forward.