I’ve come to a fun conclusion. My attention span should be studied.

I know, a bold statement. But it’s true. Here is my case: I can watch a 3-hour movie, but not a 3-hour gaming stream. I can read a full book, but not a full research article. I can easily watch show episodes that are 20-25 minutes, but not 40 minute to an hour long. Don’t even get me started on shows with more than 5 seasons.

But this is no coincidence, weirdly enough. What we are seeing is the effects of “stickiness”.

You Thought of Something Else, Didn’t You?

Don’t laugh. It’s true. My lovely attention span is the result of stickiness. That’s a fun word, I know. But it actually is a very good thing when it comes to social media. Stickiness, also called User Stickiness, is actually quite important to understanding how certain social media posts get engagement:

“User stickiness refers to the frequency of a user’s engagement with your product. A sticky product drives strong user habits and deep engagement, making it a habitual part of a user’s routine.”

An example?

In my case, the user stickiness for a 20 minute episode is more effective on me than an hour episode, because it’s shorter, and is likely to be completed in a shorter amount of time than a show with hour long episodes.

Why Should YOU Use Stickiness? (still a silly name)

There’s actually a lot of benefit to using user stickiness. The phenomenon explains why some posts will receive more attention and better engagement than others, and why some media are more effective than others. Here’s why.

1. Simple, Showcase, Satisfying

User stickiness helps make content more engaging to an audience. You can make a post simple and easy for people to read. You can make a post showcased, something that catches the eye, like a bold title (see what I did with mine?). Or You can make a post satisfying, make the reader/watcher leave satisfied. Have a post be in-depth, investing, eye-catching, you name it.

2. The Good That Can Come

There’s a lot of good that came from it. You can build community, reputation, and self-expression if you utilize user stickiness. People will come back wanting more, positively increasing the engagement to your content, and increasing the user attention span on your content if done correctly. So, there’s a topic you want to discuss for fun or a very serious topic that you want to address, and having good user stickiness can result in more people seeing your work.

3. Having Stickiness Can Lead to a Better Future

Whether you use it or not, I find that user stickiness can lead to a better future. In a world where attention spans like mine are getting shorter and shorter, it’s hard to find a line where you can get long-term engagement. If something sticks (literally), then go for it. We live in a world where social media runs the world. I think that if people know more about user stickiness, they can get content better than ever.

But I would recommend one thing: learn what works for you, and you alone. Because while stickiness can be effective, it is very subjective. Like my attention span, someone might find an hour-long episode more engaging than, say, a 20-minute episode. Whatever topic you want to discuss, learn, and adapt. This world keeps changing. And funny enough, you just have to find what sticks, literally. The choice is yours to make.