1 in 3 wake up, check email immediately
35% of mobile workers check their email first thing in the morning, before getting dressed or having a cup of coffee.… Read the full article
Online communications
Format links for clicking
5 ways to draw eyes, fingers
Your most important links are calls to action, writes HubSpot’s Kyle James. So how can you increase the chances that they’ll get clicked?… Read the full article
Thank you for sharing
Features go viral more often, says Reuters Institute
While news stories make up the bulk of the content on three European news sites, most of the most-shared stories are features.… Read the full article
Avoid online ADHD
Embed links carefully
Where do you put your links?
Embedded links are distracting.
Embedded links like this one can cause problems. Among them:
- They’re distracting. Because they capture eyeballs, embedded links “foster a kind of attention deficit disorder, creating casual, easily distracted surfers instead of committed, engaged readers,” writes Jan H.
A link is a promise
Don’t disappoint readers
A suitor asks you on a date but doesn’t show up. A parent says she’ll play a game but never does. A link on a website says Products & services but opens a registration page instead.… Read the full article
The Goldilocks Conundrum
Write links that aren’t too short or too long
Think of links as the Goldilocks of microcontent: Some links are too long. Some links are too short.… Read the full article
Does not compute
16% of adults worldwide are technologically illiterate
Just 8% of adults around the world can manage conflicting requests to reserve a meeting room using a reservation system, then email people to let them know whether they got the room they requested.… Read the full article
I’ve got a little list
Eight thoughts about the length of your listicle
Thank you, David Letterman.
The Top 10 list rules the web — or at least, Buzzfeed. The number of Buzzfeed listicles with the numeral 10 in the headline outranked the next most popular numeral (15) by 142%, according to research by Noah Veltman and Brian Abelson, two Knight-Mozilla fellows.… Read the full article
Don’t give your readers e-somnia
Bedtime screen reading keeps folks up all night
Here’s one more obstacle to reaching readers online: Reading that email or blog post before bedtime can literally cause your readers to lose sleep.… Read the full article
Google Poetics captures a refrain
Anaphora turns search phrases into verse
I’m a huge fan of found poetry.
Create poetry from the speeches of Donald Rumsfeld, the baseball play calls of Phil Rizzuto or the etiquette advice of Emily Post, and I’m a happy camper.… Read the full article