If you put ‘Is marriage out of fashion’ into Google, the statistics often quoted and the balance of comment suggests the commonly held view is that it is, indeed, ‘out of fashion’.

So, if, as the figures often state, the act of marriage is at its lowest since the 1800s it therefore follows that ‘the act of engagement‘ is also at its lowest.

If, as a society, we are resisting the process of committing to each other where does that leave the wider activity of engagement with, and commitment to, the world around us? My personal belief is that we have become even more non-committal.

This inherent fickleness is what gives me the biggest problem with the term ‘engagement’ and the way it is being used in the context of web content management and the broader ‘customer relationship’ environment. When I think of ‘engagement’ with regard to websites in particular, that wonderful phrase ‘herding cats’ springs to mind.

Regardless of the growth of social media, I still believe that the vast majority of online activity within the greater mass of websites  is goal directed behaviour. When you are focused on a goal, the overtone of ‘engagement’ is that it will take more time and commitment than I am prepared to give. I want the information that satisfies my goal as quickly and easily as possible – if you put any sort of barrier in the way or make me feel I’m being ‘sold to’ or ‘manipulated’ in any way – I’m out of there.

Now, I’ve been kicking around the web virtually since its inception and I know there are countless ways in which I could ‘personalise’ my online activities and experiences that, if I analysed it from a time management perspective, would actually make my life easier – so why don’t I? More than often it’s just one step too far in making a commitment to a process, application, site, or organisation. The thing is, I don’t think I’m alone in continuing to do things the hard way online and I don’t think I’m ever going to be persuaded to change. Sorry – I simply don’t want to get ‘engaged’ – thank you…