As someone who works on social media every day, I often wonder if people just read the headlines and don’t click through and read the link. Based on people’s reaction, I usually think they don’t click and read and just react.
Last week I wrote something Ranger Nation posing a question. I actually didn’t take a stance one way or the other and rather just said “the question will be answered in these playoffs.” But people only read the headline and jumped to the conclusion I was saying yes or no.
Yesterday there was a story how the Newark and Camden areas are among the 25 peaceful areas in the country. I made sure “area” was in what I posted, and it was in the headline on the article. But people didn’t see the word “area,” I guess, or didn’t read the article which define what area meant. The discussion was on Newark and Camden themselves.
I thought I’d do some unscientific research and ask people: Do you click the links on social media and read the articles? Or do you just react to headlines?
Vote in the poll and leave a comment below on how you react to seeing news on social media. I admit I don’t always click a link if all the information seems to be presented. And I don’t always read a whole story (remember inverted pyramid style exists for a reason).
And the next question is how do we get people to read beyond the headline or the social media post? Tell me your thoughts on that too.
[...] But then again, consider our reading habits for the news, especially in an online world. We can easily be distracted and not read an entire article. And as I read the comments on many sites (and then on social media) about the article, I wonder if anyone read beyond the headline or the first graph (something I’ve pondered on this blog). [...]