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