It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it, reckons Apple

Small changes can sometimes have a big effect: Apple is to urge listeners to “follow” their favorite podcasts, rather than use the word “subscribe”.

Why it matters

The word ‘subscribe’ has been confusing potential listeners for more than 15 years, Podnews reports. Research shows that almost half of people who don’t currently listen to podcasts associate the word ‘subscribe’ with having to pay.

Context

• The change of wording will appear in iOS 14.5, due to be released later this month.
• A number of other platforms have already cottoned on to the social science and dropped the S-word. Spotify and Audible use “follow”, Stitcher uses “+ follow”, and Amazon Music uses a heart icon plus “follow”.
• Google Podcasts and Castbox still use “+ Subscribe”, and Overcast and Castro just “Subscribe”.

Final thought 

“It’s time for every podcast app to copy Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and Amazon by using ‘follow’ – and for every podcaster to follow their lead. The way we talk about podcasts has changed forever: and that’s probably a good thing” – Podnews.

Sourced from Podnews