Capturing the Attention
Topics in media are very diverse and there are many views to a topic. The most important part to get people reading a social media post is how you initially present your content and whether it appeals to the targeted reader. Brady, Gantman, and Bavel (2019) explain that emotional and moral content in social media has been found to be the most read and discussed because it is motivationally appealing to individuals. The importance of capturing attention is really defined by the topic of the discussion. For example, on topics of mental health, it is important to grab that motivational attention from the readers because it is a subject that has been suppressed and stigmatized in past years. This would be considered a topic that has the chance to make people aware of the issues as well as help those that deal with mental health feel they have an advocate speaking out for them.
Maintaining the Attention
Due to such a large amount of content and varying outlooks on subjects there is seemingly an unlimited amount of content available about any subject one may desire to view. This can make it difficult to maintain the attention of the targeted audience. In todays social media “sharing” is the key factor in maintaining the attention of the subject and acquiring new attention from other users. Brady, Gantman, & Bavel (2019) make mention of the prevalence emotional and moral subjects have on the ability to capture attention. The same could be assumed for the maintenance of the subject. If the people are desiring emotional and moral driven conversation then maintaining those feelings within the subject driving the subject to where it strikes the emotional and moral chords of a persons being, then it will be likely one will maintain the attention of their audience. Content is just as important in maintaining attention. If a person’s attention span on social media is only 8-9 seconds and you were able to maintain their attention longer than that; then what a feat! Though, even if the subject was excellent, no person wishes to see the same thing more than once or twice. Three or four times is old news and they will move their attention to other places. Another way to maintain your audience is by making people feel they have value. People wish to be heard and feel that their opinions have value and meaning. By acknowledging your audience and their opinions, you will deffinitely maintain their attention.
References:
Brady, W. J., Gantman, A. P., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2019). Attentional capture helps explain why moral and emotional content go viral. doi:10.31234/osf.io/zgd29
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