Improving your content consumption habits — Why 2017 is your year to trim.
It’s a new year at Croomo, and we’re going through a number of really exciting changes. I did a bit of reflection towards the end of 2016 on what was in store in the new year and realised that I needed to sharpen my focus if I was going to keep pushing the envelope of learning experience design in 2017.
Getting lean with #realcontent
Like many, I’ve decided that 2017 is the year to shed a few extra kilos and set the tone for a healthier, fitter me. I’ve dusted off my gym membership and started cooking delicious and nutritious meals that keep me feeling tip-top.
This got me thinking about my content consumption habits over the last few years — and I was a little bit appalled by the utter rubbish that I‘ve been filling my hungry mind with.
While the advent of social media has ushered in a new paradigm similar to Gutenberg’s press, it’s also allowed for the proliferation of a lot of trash.
It’s only natural that we’ve reached a saturation point and start pushing back in the hope we can get back to real news and real content.
The fake news scandals towards the end of last year are a case in point — especially if you consider how both Google and Facebook announced that they were willing to reduce their ad revenue if it meant reducing fraudulent content.
The people have spoken: we’ve had enough of click-bait and shoddy content.
Count your content calories
A lot of this post was prompted by watching Simon Sinek’s viral video about millennials in the workplace and just how hooked we are on the dopamine response created by social media and trawling for likes or new content that delights us.
Sinek made me hyper-aware of my habits and I caught myself a number of times just aimlessly scrolling through my news feed on Facebook — often going over articles and posts that I’d already seen a number of times. All in the hope that I’d find something new! What a waste of time.
To break this useless habit, I’ve deleted the Facebook app from my mobile and started assessing my sources of content online. And you know what? I’ve never felt better or able to retain more of the quality reading I’ve been doing instead.
eLearn more
I think something I’ve personally forgotten in recent months is that people who create and design learning share a common ethos of helping others through the dissemination of knowledge or skill. They’re not out there to spread misinformation because good learning is demonstrable —so we can easily spot a ruse.
And this is something I want to foster in my learning experience design this year. Learners are so good at calling it when your content doesn’t hit the mark. So, I’m returning to the basics and making sure that my design always considers their needs first.
I’m predicting that 2017 will prompt a bigger backlash against content that is either fake or low quality. But, until then, I’m doing what I can to be more judicious about my consumption habits.
