How to write for people with a "Tab Problem"
Writing for online sources today means writing for a generation with self-prescribed ADD. We are constantly changing from tab to tab, reading a sentence here and a sentence there, often closing articles accidentally... but forgetting what we were even reading... so we just move on. Those 10 seconds were the only chance the article had to resonate in our electrified brains.
Writings need to be short, catchy, and scandalous. We like lists, we like pictures, and we like to be able to connect abstract happenings millions of miles away with to our daily lives.
This also brings many new aspects of marketing into the picture. While the audience should be considered for any piece of writing, the idea of optimization comes into play when writing for e-readers. This begs the following questions:
Who is reading the article?
How did they reach the article?
Where in the world are they?
How does one choose the best search terms to include?
How does one reach optimal numbers of "shares"?
Ultimately, the world of online journalism is more competitive than journalism of the past. More people are writing, but fewer people have the attention span to read an intelligently developed piece. Online journalists need to find their niche, and a place to post that will reach their intended audience.