Are not [visiting] dot coms.” — “Gen Z

Are websites less notable than they used to be?

Let me start by noting that this is not a story regarding youngsters visiting fresh TLDs rather than .com. It’s regarding the younger generation not visiting domain names at all.

Business of Fashion published an interesting look at publications launching on social media first, albeit often adding a website later on.

An example is Clique Media Group, which launched the fresh “publication” Obsessee. If you go to Obsessee.com, all you see are links to 10 social media platforms, from SnapChat to Instagram to Twitter.

There’s no content on Obsessee. All of the content lives on social media channels.

The article discusses other publications or spin-offs that started solely on social media. Many of these have added a website following their social media presence took off.

In some ways, this seems like a unique way to test the market for a publication ahead of spending development dollars on it.

Yes, Reglike readers are sure to point out the problem of depending on third-party social media sites, which inevitably end up charging you for access to your readers.

Still, a trend is a trend, and it could have ramifications for the domain name industry.

Clique Media CEO gave the money quote: “Gen Z are not [visiting] dot coms.”

I’ll point out that every social profile Clique Media set up for Obsessee has a link to Obsessee.com.