What do people look at to decide that something is relevant to them?

Hello. ☀️
I am Akari no Tabibito.

This is the third installment of the Akari Research Institute.

Last time, I talked about how readers who open note do not look at every single article lined up on their timeline.

Even if an article is displayed on the screen, there is no guarantee that its existence will be noticed. Readers prioritize articles about things they are currently interested in or from creators they have known for a long time.

However, even when looking at the same timeline, a finger will stop on one article while passing right by another.

Where does that difference come from?

This time,

What do people look at to decide that something is relevant to them?

I will observe this from the perspective of a reader choosing a note article.

The entire scope of this research is introduced in this introductory article.

▶ Research Guide | Why do people follow that person?

Previous articles can be found here.

▶ Part 1 | Why is my existence unknown even though I write every day?

▶ Part 2 | Why do humans overlook most of the information right in front of them?

▶ I will compile them in this magazine.

Readers look at their "relationship to themselves" before the content

When creators write articles, they inevitably focus on the content.

What should I convey? How detailed should I be? Is the writing easy to understand? Is the structure such that it will be read to the end?

It is very natural to want people to look closely at the content precisely because you spent time writing it.

However, readers looking at the timeline do not yet know the content of the article at that point.

All that is visible at first is the title, the header image, the sender's name or icon, and the short text displayed at the beginning.

From that limited information, readers decide,

whether this is an article they should read.

In other words, before checking whether an article is excellent or not, they look at

whether it seems relevant to them.

whether it seems relevant to them

is what they are looking at.

The sender is looking at the content.

The reader is first looking at the entrance.

If you look only at the reactions without knowing this difference in perspective, you might blame yourself, thinking,

Was my writing bad?

Do I lack the ability to write?

However, if the article hasn't even been opened yet, the value of the content has not been rejected.

It may simply be that the reader could not find a connection to themselves.

Even with the same article, there are those who stop and those who pass by.

For example, suppose an article titled

Why is my existence unknown even though I write every day?

Why is my existence unknown even though I write every day?

appears in their feed.

People who write on note every day. People who are worried because their engagement isn't increasing despite continuing to post. People who are struggling with the direction of their content because their followers and page views aren't growing.

For such readers, the moment they see the title,

they might feel,

"This might be about me."

On the other hand, for people who don't write on note or aren't particularly worried about their content, there is no reason to read it right away.

It's not that the quality of the article has changed.

The distance to the article differs depending on the person looking at it.

Therefore, you don't need to create a title that will be read by everyone.

In fact, if you broaden the target too much, it can become unclear who the article is for.

For example,

"Thoughts on life"

Suppose there is a title like that.

Life is relevant to almost everyone.

However, because the scope is too broad, you can't tell from the title alone whether it's about work, relationships, or a way of living.

Even if readers think, "Life is relevant to me too,"

"I want to read this right this second"

they might not feel that way.

Being relevant as a big theme and feeling that it is necessary for oneself right now are not the same thing.

When it's clear who the article is aimed at, people stop scrolling.

The more you want to reach many people with your article, the more you want to broaden your target audience.

This is an article that is useful for everyone.

It can be read regardless of age or occupation.

I want everyone to know this.

As a traveler, I understand the feeling of wanting to say that.

If I am going to take the time to write it, I want to reach as many people as possible.

However, what readers look at first is not how many people the article is aimed at.

Whether it feels like it is aimed at them right now.

That is what they are looking at.

People who write every day but are not read.

People who want to use AI but do not know which one to choose.

People who continue to create but are about to lose confidence.

People who want to play games but for some reason cannot find the energy to start them.

When such a specific state is visible, the relevant readers are more likely to stop and take notice.

You might feel that narrowing down the target will reduce the number of people who read it.

But in reality, by clarifying who the article is for, it becomes easier for the people who need it to find it.

Writing for one person does not mean reducing the number of readers.

It is about creating an entrance where someone who has felt the same way can realize,

This is about me too.

It is about creating an entrance where they can realize that.

Readers are struggling with their own words

Creators and readers sometimes perceive the same problem using different language.

Creators might be thinking in terms of:

Expanding awareness.

Information architecture.

Building a creator persona.

The relationship between articles.

These are the kinds of terms they might be thinking about.

However, what readers are usually thinking about are:

“I write every day, but no one reads it.”

“I have followers, but my page views aren't increasing.”

“I feel like people don't know what I'm about.”

“I've lost track of what I should be writing.”

These are more immediate and direct concerns.

If creators build articles using only the words they want to use, even if the content is correct, readers may not be able to find a connection to themselves.

This is because they are placing words the reader doesn't know yet at the entrance.

Even with the word “awareness” used here, if I had led with only difficult explanations from the start, fewer people might have stopped to read.

However,

Why is my existence unknown even though I write every day?

If you start with a relatable concern like that,

“This is happening to me too.”

It becomes easier for them to feel that way.

The more complex the structure you are dealing with, the more you should use the language the reader uses in their daily life for the entry point.

From there, guide them little by little toward a new perspective.

I believe that is what it means to build a bridge between the reader and the article.

Align the title, image, and introduction in the same direction

You do not need to explain the entire article in the title alone.

What the reader needs first is not the full content of the article, but

a clue that it might be relevant to them

.

Present a question in the title.

Convey the atmosphere or structure of that question with the header image.

Clarify who the article is intended for in the introduction.

When these three work together, the reader can decide whether or not to read it.

If the title makes it look like a story about note management, but the header image shows something completely different,

or if you read the introduction and still don't know what the article is about,

then the interest the reader felt at first will be broken.

Conversely, if

the title, header image, and introductory text

are all pointing in the same direction,

they will think, "This is indeed the topic I was interested in."

You can read through while confirming this.

It is important to speak to the same reader across the entire entry point of the article, rather than trying to convey everything with just one element.

Observation results from this time

Before reading the details of an article, people judge

whether it seems relevant to them

as they decide.

The clues for this are the title, the header image, the sender's name and icon, and the beginning of the article.

Readers stop for words that are closer to the problems they are currently facing, rather than broad words that apply to everyone.

What has become clear from these observations is that

that is the point.

When it feels like an article for them, a single article in the timeline changes into

an article worth reading

for them.

If you apply the content from this time to your own note, you can first check the following two things.

What kind of person is this article written for?

Do the title, header image, and introduction convey the same message to that person?

Just by reviewing these two things, you might be able to find the gap between what you want to write and the entry point that the reader perceives.

After finishing Part 1

In the first to third installments so far,

The fact that just because an article exists, it doesn't mean it will be noticed by readers.

The fact that readers are not looking at every article in front of them.

And before reading an article,

they are judging, 'Is this relevant to me?'

I have observed that they make this judgment.

This concludes the first part of this research.

In the next part, Part 2, rather than the article itself,

we will observe how the sender is perceived by others as a person.

we will observe this.

The theme of the fourth installment is,

Why do people categorize senders in an instant?

.

If you write articles about AI, you are an AI person.

If you write articles about games, you are a game person.

If you write about various topics, you are someone whose focus is unclear.

How do readers understand a sender from such limited information?

At the Akari Research Institute, from Part 2 onwards, we will continue to publish articles for free that provide one perspective and actionable insights you can apply to your own content each time.

Thank you very much for reading Part 1 for free up to this point.

When an article doesn't reach people, it's easy to doubt your own writing ability or talent.

However, you just haven't been found yet. They haven't found the connection to you.

There are also reasons like that, which exist outside of the text itself.

I hope these three installments will serve as a clue to help you re-examine your posts from a slightly different angle before blaming yourself.

The observations at the Light Research Institute will proceed even deeper from here.

The fourth installment is scheduled to be released tomorrow around 5:00 PM.

I will compile everything in this magazine.