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The Art of Holding the
Human Attention Span
#FHtrends
#FHtrends
By now, we’ve probably all heard the goldfish attention
span example.
#FHtrends
You know, the one that says goldfish have a 9-second
attention span, but humans only have an 8.25-second
attention span?
#FHtrends
The example that’s supposed to make us feel like we’re
less intelligent than everyone’s first childhood pet?
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A pet that supposedly can live for decades but always
dies within a couple of months?
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Yep. That’s the one we’re talking about.
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But we’re gathered here today to debunk that myth.
#FHtrends
But we’re gathered here today to debunk that myth.
(And congratulations on already sticking with us for more than 9 seconds! )
#FHtrends
TBH, research tells us that the average human attention
span is decreasing.
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But just like the goldfish that allegedly lived to be 45 years
old, potential and average are two very different things.
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Humans can have much longer attention spans, but for a
number of factors facing today’s consumers, often times
they don’t.
#FHtrends
So at a time when consumers get bored more quickly
than ever, how is it possible that we also have an appetite
for some pretty specific types of long-form content?
#FHtrends
And more importantly, what can brands learn about
holding the human attention span from a few unexpected
stories that did just that?
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Let’s consider a few examples.
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Example #1:
Serial, Season 1
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Serial is a podcast that uses investigative journalism to
narrate a nonfiction story in12 episodes, over the span of
three months.
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And 12 episodes over the span of three months wasn’t
even close to enough to fill our attention spans.
Serial is a podcast that uses investigative journalism to
narrate a nonfiction story in12 episodes, over the span of
three months.
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To say the first season of this series was a hit would be
an understatement.
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Listeners were captivated.
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Listeners were fascinated.
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Listeners were intrigued.
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But mostly just obsessed.
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Without even knowing the time commitment the series
would take, listeners couldn’t get enough.
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There were even podcasts about the podcast.
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There were even podcasts about the podcast.
...And then recaps of the podcasts about the podcast.
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(...And then discussions the next day about the recaps of the podcasts about the podcast.)
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For those short three months (and the couple of months
that followed), Serial was everything.
#FHtrends
Example #2:
Making a Murderer
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As many of you may know, Making a Murderer is Netflix
original series that follows the story of Steven Avery, a
Wisconsin man who has spent several years of his life
behind bars for crimes many believe he did not commit.
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Similarly to Serial listeners, viewers of Making a Murderer
couldn’t stop.
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They were outraged.
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And for many different reasons.
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And for many different reasons.
(Only some of which involved the bad hair.)
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But regardless of their specific points-of-view, viewers
spent 10 whole hours watching it.
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And social listening tells us that a shocking number of
viewers spent 10 consecutive hours watching it.
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(And for anyone who’s keeping track, 10 hours of content is 4,000 times the
attention span of a goldfish.)
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No one expected viewers to be as engaged with this
show as they were.
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And the more people talked about it, the more others
had to watch it.
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Example #3:
Zola’s Twitter Story
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Warning: The content of this example deals with themes
of an adult nature and is intended for mature audiences
only. Viewer’s discretion is advised.
#FHtrends
Warning: The content of this example deals with themes
of an adult nature and is intended for mature audiences
only. Viewer’s discretion is advised.
(In other words, if you haven’t read Zola’s Twitter story yet, we don’t suggest you do so on
your work computer.)
#FHtrends
In a mere 142 tweets, viral-sensation Zola used Twitter to
tell a story about a new friendship that brought her into a
very dangerous world.
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A world filled with strippers and drugs and guns.
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A world filled with strippers and drugs and guns.
(Oh, my! )
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Even though it’s told through conversational language on
a social media platform, it takes nearly half an hour
to fully consume.
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But followers were hooked after the very first tweet and
were committed to finishing the story,
no matter how long it took.
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And they felt
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And they felt all.
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And they felt all.the.
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And they felt all.the.feels.
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They laughed.
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They cried.
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But mostly, they gasped in disbelief.
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How could a story that lacked any sort of strategic
crafting capture so many components of great
storytelling?
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In 142 tweets, Zola told us everything we needed to know
to hear the characters’ voices in our heads and visualize
the scene in our minds.
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It was unintentionally genius.
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So now we have three examples, involving three different
mediums, when humans proved they can have longer
attention spans than goldfish... when applied to ideal
situations.
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So circling back to our goldfish example, let’s consider
the most optimal conditions for keeping the
human attention span alive.
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1. Always leave them wanting more.
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Just like the goldfish that was given too much food at
once, overfeeding can be deadly. The best and most
captivating stories leave your audience wanting more.
#FHtrends
Serial became an obsession because
listeners craved the truth, explanations and answers.
#FHtrends
Serial became an obsession because
listeners craved the truth, explanations and answers.
(None of which they ever expect to get.)
#FHtrends
2. Filters are necessary.
#FHtrends
Aquariums often work to filter out certain toxins from the
fish’s water. To tell an engaging story, sometimes you
have to filter out pieces of the story... even if the filtering
actually raises more questions.
#FHtrends
Making a Murderer left out specific pieces of the story,
which only encouraged more conversation and
discussion – both online and offline.
#FHtrends
3. Fancy isn’t a requirement.
#FHtrends
Sure, a fancy aquarium looks awesome, but it won’t
guarantee your fish stays alive.
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Sure, a fancy aquarium looks awesome, but it won’t
guarantee your fish stays alive.
The same goes for good storytelling. A fancy package
could enhance the story, but the way in which a story is
told is less important than the story itself.
#FHtrends
Zola’s story was pure stream-of-consciousness, delivered
in 140 character bites, in a voice that would make any
English teacher cringe.
#FHtrends
Zola’s story was pure stream-of-consciousness, delivered
in 140 character bites, in a voice that would make any
English teacher cringe.
The story was a lot of things, but fancy
wasn’t one of them.
#FHtrends
(And when they make Zola’s story into a movie, everyone will say
the Twitter version was better.)
#FHtrends
So long story long, if we can create content that leaves
people wanting more...
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So long story long, if we can create content that leaves
people wanting more...
by being very intentional about the pieces of the story we
don’t tell...
#FHtrends
So long story long, if we can create content that leaves
people wanting more...
by being very intentional about the pieces of the story we
don’t tell...
and by telling our story in a way that feels truly authentic to
the audience...
#FHtrends
Chances are our story will capture and hold our audience’s
attention.
#FHtrends
(And with any luck at all, it will be for longer than 8.25 seconds.)
#FHtrends
So here’s to creating brand stories that listeners can’t
stop listening to, viewers can’t stop watching and the
social world won’t dare to stop following.
#FHtrends
But mostly, here’s to creating stories that won’t get
flushed down the toilet.
#FHtrends
But mostly, here’s to creating stories that won’t get
flushed down the toilet.
(#RIPgoldie)
Thank you.
FH Insights
#FHtrends
Let’s connect.
Ryan Smith Abby Graves
@ryanpaulsmith
@ajgraves920
#FHtrends
