New Year, New Screens: Rethinking Engagement in Public Venues

The start of a new year is when venues naturally take stock of what worked, what didn't and what feels outdated. Screens are often part of that reflection. They are everywhere, in malls, cafés, airports, offices and event spaces, yet they rarely deliver the level of engagement they promise.

As audiences become more selective with their attention, simply having a screen is no longer enough. The new year presents an opportunity to rethink not just what appears on screens, but how people interact with them.

The Attention Shift Venues Can't Ignore

Over the past few years, people have grown accustomed to filtering out anything that doesn't invite participation. Passive content blends into the background, no matter how polished it looks.

In public venues, this shift is especially visible. Guests glance at screens briefly, then return to their phones, conversations, or surroundings. The screen remains on, but engagement quietly disappears. This is not a failure of content quality; it is a mismatch between modern behavior and outdated interaction models.

From Display Surfaces to Social Spaces

Forward-looking venues are beginning to treat screens less like billboards and more like social spaces. Instead of asking “what should we show,” the more relevant question has become “what can people do here?”

When screens invite interaction, through play, participation, or shared moments, they change how people behave around them. Groups slow down. Strangers pay attention together. The screen becomes a point of connection rather than a source of noise.

Why Participation Beats Exposure

Traditional screen strategies focus on exposure: how many people passed by and how often content looped. Interactive experiences shift the focus to participation.

Participation creates memory. When guests take part in something, even briefly, they are far more likely to remember the venue, the moment and the brands associated with it. This is especially valuable in crowded environments where standing out is increasingly difficult.

Lowering the Barrier to Join

One of the biggest lessons venues have learned is that engagement must be effortless. Any experience that requires explanation, installation, or commitment loses people immediately.

The most successful screen-based experiences allow guests to join instantly, often using their own phones. A visible prompt and a simple action, like scanning a QR code, are enough to turn curiosity into participation. When joining feels easy, engagement spreads naturally.

Designing for Real-World Behavior

Public spaces are unpredictable. People arrive and leave at random, attention shifts constantly and distractions are unavoidable.

Experiences that work in these environments respect those constraints. They are easy to understand, short in duration and tolerant of interruptions. Instead of demanding focus, they fit into the rhythm of the space.

What the New Year Makes Possible

The new year is not about chasing trends for their own sake. It is about aligning screens with how people actually behave today.

Venues that rethink their screens as interactive touchpoints rather than passive displays gain more than novelty. They gain longer dwell times, stronger social energy and better insight into what truly engages their audience.

Platforms like GameAgora are built around this shift, enabling venues to transform existing screens into shared, multiplayer experiences without adding friction or complexity.

Looking Ahead

As public spaces continue to compete for attention, the role of screens will keep evolving. The venues that stand out will be the ones that stop broadcasting and start inviting.

A new year offers a clean slate. For many venues, it may also be the right moment to turn screens into experiences and engagement into something people actively choose to be part of.