I Asked What Is The Greatest Sin Of Content.
Regardless of taste, there is something universally distasteful to all of us who consume content. Let's amp up that statement shall well? Let’s cast the net very wide.
Almost too wide for a humble article writer on Medium.
So, what is the greatest sin of content?
Of all content?
Yes, even that content.
Well, it’s actually quite easy.
It’s wasting people’s time.
It is as simple and elegant as that.
Your audience’s time is precious. In our fast-paced, information-saturated world, people’s attention spans are precious. It is the one commodity that people are aware of. Therefore, we have little patience for content that doesn’t respect our limited time. As a content creator, you have a responsibility to your audience to ensure that every second they spend engaging with your material is time well spent.
Regrettably, far too much of the content flooding the internet today commits the cardinal sin of wasting the audience’s time. Whether it’s clickbait titles that over-promise and under-deliver, or endless advertisements that disrupt the viewing experience. Hell, even ramblings and unfocused narratives are all too common. This includes reels that are under a minute.
In fact, we could list them all out and generate years' worth of articles for Medium.
The implications of this epidemic are severe. And oh lordy, it is an epidemic. Audiences quickly become frustrated and disengaged when they feel their time is not valued. They’ll abandon your content and you. In the attention economy, respect for the audience’s time is the ultimate currency.
So let’s explore the various ways that can squander the audience’s time, the consequences of this cardinal sin. Then, let's look at the principles that creators must embrace to ensure they are providing value in every moment. Because the greatest sin a content creator can commit is to waste the very thing their audience can never get back: their time.
When content creators disregard the audience’s time, the consequences are often devastating. This applies to both for the audience and the creator themselves. You see, the human brain is wired to be highly sensitive to time and attention. Every moment we engage with content triggers a complex neurological response. When we waste that time, it elicits a profoundly negative reaction.
And that negative rection is a taste that does not wash out easily.
Imagine settling in to watch an informative video, only to be bombarded by a two-minute introduction that says nothing of substance. Or clicking on an enticing headline, just to find that the actual content bears no resemblance to the promised topic. Or a reel that does not have a payoff. In these all-too-common scenarios, your brain experiences a sense of betrayal and frustration. It feels like the creator has stolen something precious from you.
This violation of trust doesn’t just lead to momentary annoyance. It can have lasting impacts on how you perceive that creator and their content. When audiences consistently feel that their time is being wasted, they develop a deep-seated mistrust. They’ll approach your future offerings with a heightened skepticism, assuming that you’re more interested in empty calories than providing genuine value.
Then one day, that audience will no longer come back.
And make no mistake, this erosion of trust is devastating for content creators. In an era of infinite options, audiences have no patience for those who squander their precious attention. They’ll simply click away and never look back. This will deprive you of the engagement, loyalty, and long-term growth which are all essential to success.
The brain is a finely tuned instrument, and it demands that its time be respected. When content creators fail to honor that, they risk triggering a neurological backlash that can cripple their relationship with their audience. It’s a high-stakes game, and the stakes have never been higher. After all, we have never seen this much content in human history.
Consider the surge of dopamine that your brain experiences when you click on an enticing headline. Now, you are robbed as the actual content fails to deliver on its promise. This neurochemical reward system is designed to reinforce behaviors that help us. But when it’s hijacked by manipulative tactics, it leaves us feeling cheated and resentful.
It feels so crudely rude. And people don’t tend to forget that easily.
The frustration doesn’t end there. Each moment spent trudging through irrelevant information or enduring endless advertisements triggers a spike in cortisol. Over time, this chronic cortisol exposure can lead to a host of negative health effects, from anxiety and depression to impaired cognitive function.
And it’s not just your emotional and psychological well-being that suffers. The very neural pathways responsible for attention, focus, and information processing become strained and fatigued when forced to sift through meaningless content. This can impair your ability to engage productively with genuinely valuable information, creating a vicious cycle of diminishing returns.
Worst of all, the brain’s innate distrust response kicks in, causing you to view the content creator with deep skepticism. That initial sense of betrayal morphs into a hardened cynicism. It makes it exponentially harder for that creator to regain your trust and attention in the future. It’s a neurological Catch-22 that can be devastatingly difficult to overcome.
In the current digital milieu inundated with a surplus of content, creators face an imperative to reassess their approach with uncompromising scrutiny. However, anyone can withstand backlash. It is the fallout that is where the damage really sets in.
At the forefront of this fallout, there is an unyielding demand for care. Apathy for your audience in an attention economy is like sitting on a landmine. So, what can creators do?
Well, each piece of content must serve as a beacon of significance. Created content must offer indispensable information or unique entertainment. Though the best is usually profound insight. Anything less constitutes a betrayal of the audience’s time and attention.
Clarity and brevity emerge as non-negotiable virtues in an era besieged by information overload. Long, wandering stories and wordy writing only push away an audience who has limited attention. So, don’t waste their time. Directness, precision, and a ruthless culling of superfluous material are imperative to engage and keep attention.
After all, it is called cut your darlings for a reason.
Transparency and authenticity serve as the foundation for building trust. Any hint of deception or manipulation not only undermines credibility, but risks irreparable damage to the creator’s reputation. Clickbait and other deceptive tactics are not just detrimental but morally bankrupt strategies that undermine the integrity of the content.
Audiences are quick to withdraw their precious time.
Above all, creators must exhibit an unwavering commitment to optimizing pacing and structure. Every creative decision, from ad placement to narrative flow, must be made with the audience’s time and experience in mind. Failure to do so not only risks disengagement but reflects a profound disregard for the audience’s trust.
While these principles may seem self-evident, the reality is that many creators have lost sight of their fundamental duty amidst the allure of growth hacks and vanity metrics. It is imperative for creators to understand their priorities as well as their audience’s. Only by doing so can they navigate the waters of the digital landscape with integrity and purpose.
At the end of the day, the person who knows their own content is the creator.
If that is you, you must decide what is giving your audience value because anything else is committing the greatest sin of content.
