S O C I A L L Y O P T I M I Z E D C O N T E N T
Socially optimized content was about getting a rise out of people , tapping into some part of their lizard brain that made them react to information after consuming it . It was often “ relatable ” or aspirational or anger-inducing . The content needed to be reflective of the reader so that they would share it with their friends and followers .
The issue with social-optimized material is that its overt , spooky familiarity envelops the internet in a kind of lowest-common-denominator gloom . Positive sentiment outnumbers negative sentiment on social media , while exaggeration outnumbers subtlety . It ’ s not a crime to write an enthusiastic headline , but when every headline you see is yelling at you in one way or another
— and making outsized claims about the emotional state of its author or readers — it becomes difficult to trust the claimed sentiments of writers . At the very least , it ’ s extremely annoying .
On the other side , SEO content avoids the human in favour of the technical . It can be stilted and awkward — but it ’ s more honest and transparent . When a writer pads thei article for the trailer of the newest Marvel movie with search keywords data like the ca and crew and opening date — they ’ re optimizing for the Google robots . But they ’ re also providing genuinely useful information . Social content was about manipulating people into clicking , sharing , and posting . SEO is about manipulating robots into treating your content as the best example of sought-after information .