The “Soundbite” Society

The Sound byte, that little line stated in an interview or comment, that causes people to instantly turn their heads, to pay attention to a topic and hopefully look into things further.  Media has been using it for as long as media has existed, the bullet point from a President, statements like “No one ever expected this…” usually along with some sort of image to increase the attention of the masses.  There’s just one problem with the SoundBite, it’s becoming the expected norm when it comes to communications.

As society’s daily pace increases, and we have Technology managing our lives more and more, the trend has been for us to consume information in quick, short bursts.  Sites like Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter have lead towards the concept of getting the world to you in 140 Characters or less becoming common place and people screaming out responses like 

“Did you have to put your answer in the form of a text wall?

Communications were designed to get information across to another party, a sound byte being the point that brings the other party’s attention to a matter so that the situation can be discussed and investigated.  and the Soundbite, in it’s brevity usually results in an overshadowed broader  context leading to it being considered misleading or inaccurate.

How does this effect Website design you may ask? It’s said that content is key when it comes to a Website, that the content of a a site is what keeps the user there for longer than the time it takes to type in a new URL address.  Keeping this in mind, when the content for a Website is being created it should remember to take into account just why it is being put into existence.

Should content creators use the soundbite to get the consumers of said content to their Website? Without a doubt the answer to that question is a resounding YES! However once you have the consumers there, it’s always best practice to offer them a fair, informed and balanced representation of the content you are presenting, after all Customers do value honesty in those they deal with.