human content: is it worth reading?

This is from a post on how people respond to online content. Itʻs incredibly insightful and provoked me to think about the way people receive human content.

People are rapid information assessors. Not always correct. But rapid. Our brain is constantly passing judgment on information and determining value. Discerning whatʻs worth giving more attention to, more time. We do the same thing with people. Is that right? No, but we do it. And people do it to us.

So, here are the nine ways an audience will respond to online content.

How do you think people respond to the content you put out to the world or in other words, the way youʻre living your life? (note:all of humanity is of the utmost and equal value. this post is speaking to the value of our practices as they relate to the world around us. not the value of the person)

1. Spam: If your content does not provide a reasonable ROII (return-on-investment for an interaction) for the reader or is self-serving or simply useless, the reader will mark it as spam. Posting something that may be assessed, as “spam” is the fastest way to losing credibility.
2. Skip: The reader makes an assessment that he or she won’t lose much by reading it. In this case, the reader has not written you off yet but if you consistently create content that is worth “skipping,” the reader might write you off.
3. Scan: The reader thinks there are only a few parts that are of relevance and wants to get right to the core of the content and skip the rest.
4. Stop: The reader is touched by the article and stops to think about the article, it’s relevance and what it means to him or her personally and professionally.
5. Save: The content is so good that the reader might want to re-visit this multiple times.
6. Shift: The article is transformational. The reader is so deeply affected (in a positive way) by the article that it shifts some of their values and beliefs. In other words, this piece of writing will transform the reader and make him or her grow.
7. Send: The content is not only useful to the reader but also to one or more people in the reader’s network. The reader simply emails the article or a link to it to people that he or she cares.
8. Spread: The reader finds the article fascinating enough to spread it to anyone and everyone via a blog, twitter or the social networks that he or she belongs.
9. Subscribe: This is the ultimate expression of engagement and a vote of confidence that you will continue to provide great content. When the reader wants to continue listening to your thoughts, he or she will subscribe.

About the Author of the 9: Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. Rajesh maintains a blog at Life Beyond Code. You can also find him on Twitter at @UpbeatNow.