I’ve been using social media since I was a teenager, an era that feels like an eternity ago. As time went on, up to this day, I’ve often wondered how I end up viewing a post in addition to what I meant to view at a certain moment. It turns out that’s called “stickiness.” It’s a term used to describe attention being held to focus on more content at a time. 

Social media stickiness has been a topic I’ve researched recently, and I’ve discovered that it can be a tool for creating meaningful social good. 

The Pros and Cons of Stickiness

Per an article written by Neil Patel, there really isn’t such a thing as random sticky content. Instead, the concept is about grabbing people’s attention to make them more engaged and interested in reading more content. Compelling headlines and hooks are examples of methods that support stickiness, along with emotional appeal, practical value, and clear structure and readability. 

The meaningful change in social good from stickiness is demonstrated by the latter’s performance of relevant tasks, such as raising awareness of complex problems and making them understandable. It also creates personal narratives, which are an important part of social media, helping to humanize stories for the public good. 

As good as stickiness is with social media, there is no perfection in it, unfortunately. There are concerns about slacktivism, which refers to a lack of real-world action following engagement with content. What’s also concerning is attention fatigue. If audiences become overwhelmed by the content they’re watching, it can lead to reduced visibility, maybe even burnout. 

A Personal Example

After doing all this careful research, it really dawned on me that I end up viewing more content than I think, especially when my brain tells me to read something at a specific moment. I’ve noticed my Facebook FYPs nowadays typically show music content of musicians playing the instruments I play, which are guitar and bass. Given that I occasionally post videos of myself playing songs on social media, most content directed toward me is about music, as it’s one of my top interests. 

My experience with music content is a huge example of social media stickiness. It’s driven by engagement and relevance in the topic. The bottom line, though, is that while stickiness can make engagement successful by repeatedly showing content people already love, slacktivism and attention fatigue also come into play. It’s just a matter of how much something sticks, which would encourage and influence individuals’ actions.