I've never been involved with a sport that works so hard to lose me as a fan.
Here's the biggest problem with the new DL format: it continues to have the same number of men's and women's events. No other sport is burdened with this requirement. Imagine the NFL or NBA if they alternated men's and women's play each quarter. Why not have a separate mens' DL and a woman's DL and see which one draws better? Might that not be a better indicator of what is actually popular than social media clicks? Think women won't be fans if they don't have the same number of DL events? Then check out the attendance and viewership stats of the NBA and WNBA and get back to me.
At the Oslo DL this year I saw: a group of people with shaved heads who they told me were women running far ahead of the pack in distance events. A group of people they told me were women throwing the shot. A group of people who actually looked like women crashing into the HJ bar set at a towering 6 feet. Gripping stuff.
We're supposed to get excited when a "World Class" woman breaks 2:00 in the 800, when high school boys do so routinely in dual meets. I'm told to value the "competition" among women, when no other sport requires I do so in order to see men actually perform at a world class level.
My suggestion to the DL if they actually want me to continue paying to attend meets or pay to watch on TV: Run the full slate of mens' events. Sprinkle in a few women if you must in mixed relays, or heats of the 100 (with the final run the next day, when the "women only" DL is held in the same stadium.)