Clearly, social media and the widely available Internet have changed our communication behavior.

We can access information anytime and basically anywhere. Therefore, a certain need has arisen to continually disseminate and receive new information. New information with every browser update or after reloading the news stream. This has sometimes taken on bizarre aspects among the providers. Who does not know that? You are reading an article on a website and suddenly a message appears in the middle of the screen that the website has been updated and new information is available.

Facebook is even more “grandiose” because everything is simply mixed up and reassembled when the news stream is reloaded. You will then see some older status messages displayed again at the top. Murphy's Law: You'll never find what you're looking for. God understand. But hey, everything always looks new.

In this respect, our communication behavior has also changed. We consume quickly, we consume superficially and, this applies to social media, we are dependent on what the platform shows us. In the end, we select our information (especially in social media) based on the attractiveness of the teasers displayed. A teaser is the preview function of linked content in social media. This means that a social network, such as Facebook, summarizes linked content in the form of a teaser. This consists of three elements: a thumbnail (1), a heading (2) and a subtitle (3).

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Website operators can consciously construct this representation and the teaser shown on social media can differ from the subsequent content or be deliberately designed to be provocative. In my opinion, it is even an art to design the teaser in such a way that users are encouraged to read the linked content at the end because of the teaser.

This art is called clickbaiting (click bait: building a curiosity gap using open information morsels and graphic elements). At this point I always preach that clickbaiting is absolutely fine, but it should always be in a healthy relationship to the content behind it. In other words: Clickbait as much as I can, but please also provide appropriately good content! Clickbait usually consists of the following elements:

  • Sensational headline
  • Curiosity Gap
  • Cliffhanger
  • Graphical elements (arrow/circle etc.)
  • emotions

A need is created to navigate to the linked content (click).

Manipulative

Of course, typical clickbaiting also has a manipulative effect; in its publication “ Facts instead of Fakes ,” the New Responsibility Foundation classifies clickbaiting as dangerous, but clearly distinguishes it from fake news (pages 11 & 12).

The main problem here is that studies show that over 60% of readers usually only read the headline. Even if the exaggerated content is then refuted in the text, it is the headline that sticks with readers.

Of course, tabloid media in particular take advantage of this and exaggerate their teasers. In this respect, it is always important to recognize who is writing, how teasers work and how the individual elements work. If you know this, you can develop a certain resistance to clickbait, or you can tell from the exaggerated teaser that you are only getting a morsel of information.

 

Know functions and focal points

Know the functions, know the networks. By the way, Saferinternet.at publishes the Youth Internet Monitor (Austria) every year, which reflects which networks young people between the ages of 11 and 17 use. At the same time, this evaluation is a nice overview of the social media networks that are currently used most frequently.

Youth Internet Monitor 2018
(click to enlarge)

Using this illustration, it is also worth taking a look at your own consumer behavior. What do I post where? How much time do I spend online? Why do I use the different networks? And the biggest question: How much do I allow myself to be influenced by content on social media? How do I deal with topics that arise due to an emotional state and the value of conversation on social media, but do not actually occur in reality?

Phantom discussions!

Social media has repeatedly brought us topics that don't actually exist. Fears were built up that were completely unfounded. Be it the fear of the white van, with the help of which children are kidnapped nationwide (including cats or dogs), the fear of a Blue Whale Challenge in which hundreds of young people supposedly choose to commit suicide, or the completely nonsensical claim that Christian holidays are have to disappear due to false tolerance.

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Yes, social media has opportunities but also risks. But above all: social media BINDS us. We are tied down because our immense need for information and false participation are supposedly being met again and again. Unfortunately, at this point I can only rely on slowing down, preaching care and perhaps also taking a look at myself: How much social media do I really need?


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )