What Makes My Thumb Stop Scrolling?
Today I’m going to talk about some thumb-stopping content on social media. Thumb-stopping content are things that instantly grab my attention and cause me to stop scrolling, usually without even realizing it. This varies from person to person and absolutely depends on my mood.
I’m an incredibly visual person. If I see a photo or video along with text on my Twitter timeline, I’m more likely to stop scrolling and look at it. Videos specifically capture my attention, and when beautiful views or cute animals are involved, I’m there. That’s why I love the account @animal0lovers because it involves all of the above.
When movement, color and living creatures appear on my majority text-based timeline, it’s a nice break and brings a certain amount of happiness. It makes you recognize the world beyond the flat land and city life. It makes you think about the people who live there, the fresh air they breathe and the way they must be fulfilled surrounded by animals and nature. It takes you to a different reality for a quick second, watching animals roaming freely where they belong.
Another weakness of mine is food content, specifically on Instagram. I could scroll (and do) for hours solely for food recipes and ideas to incorporate into the next post on my food account. Once again, it involves the colors, photos and videos. I’m drawn to the presentation of food, and @halfbakedharvest is my all time favorite food blogger because of this (and because her recipes win every time). Every night around the same time, Tieghan posts a new recipe on her Instagram story. She talks throughout the videos, gives recommendations for alternatives and seems like someone I’d be friends with. I’m intrigued every single time.
Finally, I notice on Instagram that I’m more inclined to stop scrolling when I see a graphic that has multiple photos attached to the post. Although I’m very careful with what I believe, it feels like I’m following a story. I can get some basic information on a topic, like Biden versus Trump on climate change, and continue my search from there to a platform that can provide additional, more complex information. Here again, the colors are present throughout the graphics and make it easy to read some simple, concise points.
After examining what captures my attention instantly, it’s pretty obvious that I’m intrigued by color. A wide variety of topics, some unimportant and others essential to know about, have the ability to make me stop scrolling because of colors. It’s really interesting, and quite disturbing to see that portrayed on my explore pages, with the algorithm focused completely on what it knows will make me stare.
