MEDIA SCENE
The Power Of Content
By Susan Atieno
Staying focused & Choosing content that matters
Our world today is cluttered with so much content , so much information , and yet , all of us whether we like it or not , consciously or subconsciously are consuming some sort of content each minute of our lives .
Look at the world around you , a typical day in a mum ’ s life for example is jumbled up with parenting responsibilities and career duties . This could range from your typical corporate woman on the highest ladder , to one in middle management and cuts across to a ‘ mama mboga ’, or small entrepreneur .
When she gets up in the morning , most would have a devotion or meditation moment . Here they would consume content , either from a book , podcast , and selected music genre or soft copy material from their phone or tablet .
Thereafter , they would get into the morning routine of breakfast and school preparations , doing this while tuning in to their favorite radio show - this is content .
On her way to work or to drop off her kids to school , when stuck in traffic or walking to work , she is exposed to Out Of Home content on billboards , LED screens , street poles and wall wraps . These she may pay attention to or not , but subconsciously consuming the information exposed to her . Let us not forget newspaper vendors along the way - all of this is content .
In her car , if she is privileged to drive or in a matatu , there is a certain station that she will tune in to as a preference or in the case of the matatu she would have no choice but to listen to what is tuned in to - this is content .
Let us not forget her phone . According to reviews . org by Wheelwright . T . he states in his article that ‘ On average , Americans check their phones 344 times per day . ( That ’ s once every 4 minutes !) Our cell phones are our constant companions . 71 % of us check our phones within 10 minutes of waking up . And 74 % of us can ’ t leave our cell phones at home without feeling uneasy .
“
In as much as all content is justifiable , it does not mean that all content is meant for us . We need to know ourselves so well to identify our triggers and need to consume the kind of content we are exposed to . The ripple effect leads to costly distraction and subsequent procrastination of key tasks .
Nor can we imagine our little companions dying - 48 % of people say they feel a sense of panic or anxiety when their cell phone battery goes below 20 %. To add on this , when they are stolen , we have a near death experience !
The data above is quite intriguing , because throughout the day , she will be checking her phone not only to receive , make calls or send SMSs , but she will also be on social media sites . Facebook , Instagram , Tiktok , WhatsApp , LinkedIn , online streaming , Nextlix , Youtube , Spotify among others . All these are platforms where content is being served .
In the evening after work , she will probably go to the gym or the shopping mall where she will be exposed to a myriad of content displayed on outdoor platforms , mall branding or even point of sale ( POS ) / point of purchase branding ( POP ).
Finally , when she gets home in the evening , more content will be served when she tunes in on the Television set co-viewing content with kids - this is still content . Come the next day … and the cycle continues .
What this means is that the average person is now more distracted than ever . Our concentration span on one item is much lower for this generation than our previous generations . In fact according to the bbc . comnews site , Simon Maybin states that ,’… the average attention span is down from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds now . That is less than the nine-second attention span of your average goldfish .’
Congratulations if you have managed to read this article thus far , because you have a good concentration span and have not been distracted .
80 MAL48 / 22 ISSUE