BoSacks Speaks Out: Super Users Are Not a Discovery, They’re the Job Description

Let’s skip the pleasantries. If you’re just now “discovering” super users, you’re not late, you’re lost. The quote from the article, “We started calling them super users,” is not insight. It’s a label slapped on the obvious. Engaged readers are valuable? That’s not a strategy. That’s physics. It’s been true since the first broadsheet hit the stoop.

I read the INMA coverage with one eyebrow cocked and the other nodding in tired agreement. The New York Times stood up and declared that the people who visit most often, stay longest, and build habits are the best subscribers and ad targets. To which I say: water is wet, fire is hot, and readers who care spend money. If your business model needs a keynote to grasp that attention equals revenue, you’re not in publishing, you’re in purgatory.

In our house, we’re drowning in magazines and newspapers. I’m a biased lifer in this business. I know what readers want: relevance. If the content and the ads speak to them, they engage. If they engage, they convert. This isn’t new. It’s foundational.

Where INMA Earns Its Keep

They pulled the lens back. This isn’t just a Times story, it’s an industry-wide truth. A tiny fraction of users delivers a disproportionate share of value. A few percent of subscribers drive a quarter to half of pageviews, and in some cases, an even larger chunk of revenue. That’s not a fluke. That’s the business model. And here’s the kicker: ads and subs aren’t rivals. They’re roommates. Two wallets, one customer. Stop treating them like strangers.

What The Times Actually Proved

Not that super users exist, we’ve known that since Gutenberg inked his first invoice. What they proved is that you can monetize engagement at scale if you build for it. Stop chasing anonymous impressions. Start courting known humans with habits. That shift isn’t cosmetic, it’s structural. It changes how you price, how you package, and how you prioritize.

Credit Where It’s Due

INMA did the industry a favor by putting hard numbers to a soft truth. The Times showed that engagement isn’t a warm fuzzy, it’s a premium SKU. Other publishers proved that events aren’t side hustles, they’re core revenue lines. The lesson isn’t “be the Times.” The lesson is “be intentional.”

BoSacks Bottom Line

Super users aren’t a trend. They’re the infrastructure. If you’re still designing for pageviews, you’re farming nostalgia. Define your loyalists. Measure their blended value. Align your teams to grow that value. And sell attention with a straight face and a number you can defend. When you treat ads and subs as two pockets in the same pair of jeans, you stop debating which one to pick, and start counting the cash.