On-demand media: wanting, finding and consuming

[NB: This is part of what was once a larger post. The other parts have gone here and here]

There are at least five types of desire with which I can start my search for content:

1. I may start with something specific in mind: a TV show I missed, or a clip I heard about
2. I may want to hear about the latest events in Iraq
3. I may start with just an idea of the kind of content I want: a lighthearted comedy, or some hard news
4. I may want to see what somoeone (a person, a company or a brand) may want to show me
5. I may just want a way to pass the time according to my mood: I may want to be entertained, or to feel I'm learning

For an alternative, but related, breakdown, see this. For some earlier ruminations on this by me read this.

There are several points to note about these attitudes:

• This is not a clear-cut classification. My desire to be entertained may be indistinguishable from my desire to watch the Comedy Channel, or to watch a lighthearted comedy.
• Or again, I may start with something very specific in mind but then accept something else that was offered (possibly after consuming the content I wanted). That is promotion, whether it is advertising or in-house, whether motivated commercially (ads) or altruistically (public-service messages)
• But the distinctions are not because of this meaningless: I may want to be entertained without having anything too specific in mind, or I may want to watch a comedy show because a friend appeared in it, not because I'm in the mood for comedy
• In the web (1), (2) and (3) usually lead to the same behaviour: navigating towards content through descriptive attributes of the same: terms in a search query, or browsing through a classification system (e..g. Commedy Channel -> Stand up comedy -> Tuesday's shows)
• Nonetheless, (1), (2) and (3) have very different intentions. In (1) I know exactly what I want, and expect navigation and search systems to take me there as quickly as possible without distractions. In (2) and (3), by contrast, I am looking for suggestions
• Cases (1), (2) and (3) are very different to (4). In the first three I am primarily looking for content, as the word is traditionally understood (what I have called 'linear' content); in the fourth I am primarily looking for an aggregate (or 'aggregate content', in my parlance); in the fifth case either  type of content will do
• Linear, broadcast media are good at (4) and (5) but not so much at (1), (2) or (3). On-demand media work in all cases
• In the web, cases (2)-(5), are usually (but not always) followed by case (1). First I learn about what content is being recommended, and then make my choice. Part of the web's power is that this transition is instantaneous (as opposed to, say, reading a movie review in a newspaper and then going to the cinema)
• Our media habits span all four cases