Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Changing Multiple Online News Feeds - Varying Rates of Speed and Viewer Attention Spans

It seems that those that run the financial cable television news each day are finding new ways to keep the humans entertained and watching their show. When they go into a station break there are all sorts of graphics which pop up, along with the common sound themes. Their branding is absolutely brilliant, and I know this because it is something that I study. Further, lately I've been noticing all the different newsfeeds which come across the screen.
There will be one at the bottom with all the stock market quotes, one at the top which shows the price of oil, gold, the stock market, and the bond yields. Then there will be the occasional news alert which comes across at a different speed from a different direction than all the rest. It seems that these stations have learned the same secrets to keeping the attention span of the human mind busy with all other visual displays. It's enough to mesmerize someone, and I think that's their point.
After all, if you spend your day with a rapid moving television show that continually piques your curiosity with visual highlights, you are liable not to turn away, thus, watch more commercials during the break. Now then, have you ever walked through a casino and watched all the people sitting there moving the handles and watching the lights flicker and flash - hoping for that sound of the clank, clank, clank of the money dropping from the machine, meaning they just won? Isn't that about the same trick?
And since this works, can we expect the future of the multimedia e-book to do the same? It's also starting to happen online with all the pop ups, and busy information coming at us from multiple sides. There might be three or four lists online on any given news website that you can click on having to do with various categories. Then when you click on those there are other choices, videos, and all sorts of new advertising popping up as you go. It's a never ending trap of visual addiction, at least that is their hopes.
Is this increasing the attention span of the viewer? Does it keep them on the website or watching the station or playing the videogame at the casino longer? It appears too, the question is to what avail, and is this really good for the viewer to continually be mesmerized with the onslaught and flow of new information coming at a faster and faster pace each year? Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.


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