ServiceFriday: Easy Read, Better Feed: Content Readability and User Engagement

Every day, social media users are continuously processing large amounts of content, either by actively clicking and reading posts, or passively with a casual scroll. Users typically give a piece of content less than seconds to decide whether to continue scrolling, or to click on a link and engage. How does a post’s readability influence whether a user will decide to click or not? In an article in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the authors explore factors that influence user interactions. They found that fundamental features such as how easily a post can be read, in addition to the number of comments, shares and likes, have a positive effect on user engagement. 

Due to “fluency effect”, the researchers found that social media users tend to enjoy content that is easily processed with high-frequency words and short sentence structures. In other words, the fewer words, the better. This finding “holds up even when accompanied by information-rich content (e.g., photos) and processed in a noisy context (e.g., reviewing one’s Facebook newsfeed).”

Furthermore, easier readability also encourages online users to engage with the content through liking, commenting and sharing. Through careful word selection, longer passages can also encourage users to engage. The study found that even only a few words can shape the willingness of users to interact. It is suggested that in social media environments with a character limit (i.e. Twitter), a strategic choice of words can also facilitate increased user engagement. 

“Taken as a whole, we predict that textually less complex posts will facilitate processing fluency, and the positive affect arising from fluency will lead to more likes, comments, and shares.”  It is recommended that social media managers implement this principle when building an online social brand community. Choosing words wisely when writing a promotional post or launching new products will not only help increase the speed and range of shares within the customer community but will encourage customers to engage by posting their comments and thoughts. 

To access the research article, visit the Wiley Online Library at this link: https://bit.ly/2FmqfLN
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