Apparently, the average user spends just 15 seconds reading content online and will read, at most, 28 percent of the words on the page. In fact, this online skim reading phenomenon has caused serious concern amongst academics, who are fearful that the same thing is happening with ‘serious’ reading, in that we no longer read properly offline either. Apparently this makes us more stupid (or, should I say stupider?) and so the slow reading movement arose – I’m hoping an explanation here isn’t required, otherwise they might be onto something.
I don’t think anyone has paid the slightest bit of attention though, if sites like BuzzFeed are anything to go by. Starting its life as a viral lab – testing out various ways to make things go viral – BuzzFeed has now expanded its remit and, a couple of years ago, started hiring journalists to cover slightly heavier subjects than ‘The 12 Cats Of The Zodiac’. There are now sections covering everything from politics and tech, to ‘LOL’ and ‘WTF’. While some of the more serious topics are covered in more traditional prose – ‘This Is The Other Privacy Scandal You Haven’t Heard About’ being one – the sombre coverage is interjected with critical political commentary such as, ‘Nick Clegg Really, Really Likes Apple Crumble And Thick Custard’.
Whether serious or not, it is quick, informative and, crucially, easily shareable via social media. It seems that others are now spotting the benefits of this viral style of reporting, in fact, ESI Media recently announced that it was launching i100 in order to take its newspaper ‘i’ into the digital realm. In a statement, the editor of i, Oliver Duff, stated that it would focus on “...brevity, quality, dialogue with readers, value, and a determination to respond to the age of hyper-information”. Other papers seem to be taking a similar approach as well, with the Evening Standard recently reporting on the Secret Cinema fiasco using screen grabbed tweets.
It is unlikely that these digital, millennial focussed outlets will completely overshadow the more traditional online news outlets. It will, however, be interesting to see how many more begin to place a focus on ‘listicle’ style, fast-paced reporting, as well as how this affects the PR industry. Will we, for example, one day in the future, say goodbye to the press release as we know it? Only time will tell and while we’re waiting to find out, we can do something useful, like learn how to throw the best ever birthday party for a hedgehog. Thank you BuzzFeed.
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