Recently I was flipping through a number of new users posts when it occurred to me... We have some great overlooked content on Steemit, but for some reason it never gets the "big vote". Why is that? Well, when speaking to another user helping him with one of his posts I realized that the material can be incredibly well written and engaging, but if it's not broken up in sections where it takes less than 6 seconds to read most people go from skimming/reading to the back button. I know this because I do it myself.
OUR ATTENTION SPANS ARE SHRINKING:
Back in 2015 Microsoft conducted a study in Canada focused on how long we can hold our focus on something in front of us. The study concluded that the average persons attention span was 8 seconds compared to previous study's where it was recorded at 12. So compared to the goldfish who has a 9 second attention span, human beings are looking pretty bad in the old focus department.
Nowadays a real common solution to restlessness or boredom is that we reach for our phones. Have I missed a call? A text? Has my Clash of Clans village been raided? Coin Market Cap refresh refresh refresh refresh... We have all been in that familiar situation where we have read an entire page, gotten to the bottom, and only registered the first paragraph but forgotten the rest. Especially if the material in front of us is something we aren't interested in, but required to read.
So why is it we can stare at Angry Birds for hours on end but not read something useful or informative for more than 8 seconds? What's missing?
CREATE THE DRUG WHEN YOU CREATE THE WRITE UP:
One thing I have noticed about heavy hitting high earning posts on Steemit is that they are often centered on things most obsess about. For instance, if you are a crypto enthusiast and pen a post on crypto currency that is in perfect bite sized chunks that are easy to digest as well as informative then along swim the whales in that category to hit you with a vote. The same goes for those in the writing category. Most want to fill the space that they'd normally use to check their eBay bids, Facebook status, or latest post votes with something equally rewarding and above all short. I've yet to see waffling rewarded on Steemit.
We all get a dopamine hit when we receive approval or feel like we've accomplished something. If you write posts in politics on Steemit and are just sharing it tends not to attract a lot of attention, but write a post that leaves the reader feeling more empowered in a short space of time and it flies. I've seen this in all tags here. Basically aiming to create reward gets rewarded.
Pretty pictures, short paragraphs, and easy to digest information are all that's needed for you to become a Steemit dopamine dealer. This is the one commonality I've seen in all high earning posts here.
Well guys, that's it for now. I could write more on this topic but I have to go check my phone, Coin Market Cap, my Clash of Clans village, see if I've gotten any texts, then get back to hitting refresh on Steemit to see if those of you reading this have voted or commented. Looking forward to all of your content and as always Steem on.
image credits:
youtube.com
samhorn.com
SystWeaksoftware.com
giphy.com
That is why it is so so important to get people to comment and to engage on steemit, we need to break that 8 second attention span, and get people thinking again, and reading. Eye candy is nice, but do you learn very much from a pretty picture.
Yes, we need to plan some intelligence contests - where you get a prize for noticing small details or being able to accurately recall someones post ... major some brain teasers and puzzle challenges!
I think that is why I am having so much fun on IFC, for me I have to do a lot of getting out of my comfort zone, and also do a lot of thinking, an active brain is a happy brain.
definitely!
Agreed my friend. You are one of the few I have encountered who approaches all content and always in depth examines it. I try to follow that example but sadly am prone to distractions so sometimes come up short. What I do find quite cool though is we have a lot of people who have started to add more incentive to commenting with comment challenges and the like. It does get more involved. Did you catch my post on APPICS? Apparently a new social media platform is launching on the steem block chain and it's going to be... well, attention span friendly I think is the best way to put it. I'll be interested to see how that one plays out.
Nice article, and thanks for that. I'm having to change lot of my habits to adjust to the Steemit platform. I'm even thinking that I need to put together a page with links and videos to remind me of the structure and ways to optimise my contributions..
I really changed my habits without realizing it after I joined Steemit. Interestingly I now write in two different fashions. One is my personal creative writing, the other is my blogging format on Steemit. I see it as a good thing as it's growth in writing at the end of it all. Thank you for stopping by and giving the post a read. I will pop over to your blog now to check out your material and share the support.
I'm not sure if short paragraphs and/or short stories will really help? I'm willing to believe that my short stories lack quality. But I see quite some Steemonians that write very long stories. And those do receive high upvotes.
This is true. A lot of those folks have high reps and an established audience though. Having said that I have seen the odd long story from a new user fly as well, just not as frequently. It would be an interesting thing to put under a microscope though. Steemit is great for watching how people behave and respond to certain content. Thank you so much for stopping by and given my post a view. :0)
I think you're 100% correct @mudcat36. Most people have lost the ability to concentrate on anything that doesn't entertain the senses, or is time consuming. Apparently success lies in the ability to deliver your message as quickly as possible with eye-catching graphics/photos, and make an effort with your layout too.
True true. I've lost entire hour chunks flipping through images when putting together a post. Interestingly I still find it rewarding even if the post doesn't break the 1.00 sbd mark. I think it's because building a post in itself feels rewarding as your sharing it rather than creative writing on your own where only you read it sort of thing. Thank you so much for giving my write up a read. Will pop over to your blog to share the support. :)
Yip @mudcat36 I spend hours looking through my own photos, or looking for something eye-catching and relevant to make a point, and I'm learning how to do the layout (aligning text left or right etc.). It's definitely rewarding when it looks interesting. Must be my DTP/layout background! Thanks for looking at my blog, much appreciated.
I like the fact that you are very observant and knows how things really works here
It's not that people that consistently have high earnings on their posts are more creative than other people, it's just that they are writing what other people want to see
Aside that, your steem power and reputation play a very significant role in having traffic on your posts
Agreed on all fronts. Thank you for giving my post a read. I'll jump over and give your content a browse to share the support. :)
same old game just added a new spin LOL see what I did there? ;-) pretty remarkable metaphor actually I can't believe I found this gif
It's me in beagle format! lol
Oh man :/ Bad news for me, 'cause I'm here to write, lol. I'm totally kidding; it is sad to know that we're losing our ability to focus, however. Reading your article kind of made me want to smash my phone, to be honest (in a good way).
I've also found breaking down your articles into bite-sized chunks is successful. My problem is, is if I've also written a decent amount(which I commonly do), I get lost in the formation of those chunks: too long? too short? am i breaking up my own idea? is this picture in the right place? can i use this picture? why am i using this picture? how much are people willing to scroll?
It gets overwhelming. It's tough to find a happy medium. Nice article mudcat! I didn't know(although I subconsciously assumed) about the negative impacts the modern world is having on our ability to hold attention, so it was pretty interesting to me that we have surpassed the goldfish LOL
Lol. I know how you feel. I love to write as well and can get incredibly enthusiastic about it and rattle on and on and on. It's odd as when I showed up on Steemit I wanted to just write short stories, long stories, and how to guides. Oddly now I barely write stories and try to do more how to material or material to try and help others. I recently have started to switch everything off and grab a book though. I didn't realize that recently I had stopped doing that so I pumped the digital brakes and started putting it in park to make time for reading in my own quite space. Having said this, on occasions I will treat Steemit like a free ebook store. We do have some great writers on this site. Well, talented people all around really. I appreciate you stopping by and am heading over to your blog now to check out your post. :)
Also, on the book note- I am ashamed to say that I'm currently looking at the 4 novels I bought from a clearance bin about a month ago, all of which I'm very interested in, sitting in a stack on my coffee table, untouched :/
You can throw me into your 2 person group, I bought a book, a paperback cost almost $10.00, I am still amazed at how much the prices went up, and it sits on my shelf waiting to be read, David Weber "How Firm a Foundation", I like his work, and I love reading, but with steemit, I just need to re prioritize some real reading time, but when I start a book, I want to finish it.
I've gotten a lot more into short story compilations lately. A cop out; maybe. But it certainly fits into my schedule better; especially when there are long breaks between reading time. I get so caught up in so many different things that otherwise, I start to get confused about what fits in where :)
It's also a great opportunity to discover new authors! I only bring it up because, like you, it's hard for me to start a book and not commit to it. I've never read any of David Weber's work, but I will certainly keep it mind per your suggestion :)
I know! When I first joined, actually, I was introduced by a friend who knew that I quasi-wanted to write horror fiction. I saw this as a place where I was going to start trying to do that.
I've done absolutely nothing of the sort, however, and have instead been sharing/reviewing things of interest to me. I always tell myself I'm just "practicing" my writing skills, which I guess is certainly true to some extent. It's almost like an outlet :)
I have found some incredible writers on the site, as well as people of all talents. I just finished reading the first 8 chapters of a book being published on Steem by @dougkarr , and I was really impressed. I'm looking forward to more from him, for sure :)
Thanks for swinging by my page. I'm not sure why that particular post got a @curie vote this morning, but I am certainly ever-grateful that it did. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment, because despite that vote I don't think many people are actually reading it :/
Great stuff @mudcat36
I thoroughly enjoyed your post and all the great comments that people have offered up.
I guess we have to keep doing what we do well but tweak the 'settings' to maintain an audience. It's a big learning curve for me but a lot of fun all the same.
Cheers, Gaz.
Good post, @mudcat36. Somehow, you always manage to fly under my radar. Won’t happen again, though: I’m setting you up on Gina right after I’ve finished this comment.
You’re absolutely right about the short attention span (pathetic, isn’t it?).
I catch myself skimming a lot when it comes to large chunks of text.
Personally, I like to break up my paragraphs in chunks of 6 lines or less. I used to spend a whole lot of time looking for the right image, but at one point I realized that it wasn’t so much about the right image, but about just something to attract the user’s attention before he jumps to the next paragraph. (Of course the image has to relate at least a bit.)
I think many users go wrong when it comes to styling their blog posts. If I see a post is just a large piece of text, I simply don’t start reading, no matter how good the content might be...
Hello stranger! :) Yes we do seem to have missed each other lately so it's great to hear from you. What's Gina btw? Never heard of it?
Gina stands for ‘General Instant Notification Automation’ - it’s a Discord bot that notifies you of whatever you want: somebody that makes a new post, new or lost followers, comments, mentions,... literally everything.
I especially like the ‘mentions’ feature, because SteemIt itself doesn’t alert you when somebody mentions your name.
And I learned just recently how important it can be to know about it :0)
So I’ve set her to notify me whenever you make a new post. I will then get a notification as a PM on Discord.
I noticed you have a Discord account, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you there...
(Not that I’m around much - lol. Chatting is not my cup of tea - but being able to send someone a PM comes in very handy at times. And then there is Gina.... I wouldn’t know where to go without.)
You can learn more about Gina in her introduction post:
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@ginabot/hi-i-am-gina-i-m-here-to-help
Dave told me you were still ‘strugglinh ‘ with the site.
If yiu want to, contact me and I’m ptepared to offer my help.
I’m not the best webdesigner in town, but I have built my fair share of good sites.
Would be useful if you were on Discord, though.., or flynover to belgium for a week or two so we could get our heads together :0)
Judt me know