February 26, 2021

The Zeitgeist - Attention Spans Shrink, Gen Z and Emojis, Pantsdrunk

Web Attention Spans Plummet Again

The CIMM (Committee on Innovative Media Measurement) summit released research this month about attention spans. Goldfish come in first at nine seconds, trailed by human users at eight seconds, and mobile visitors at three seconds. This isn't the download time of a page from your browser, the study measured the maximum amount of time a user will spend on a website if not immediately engaged by a user. Make your content load as fast as possible and grab your audience pronto with imagery and copy.

The emoji that's Radioactive for GenZ.

Face with Tears of Joy emoji is social media shorthand for the type of laughter that makes you spit out your coffee. It also tops the list of the most popular social media emojis. Not everyone is laughing, though.

Gen Z thinks the icon is bland, insincere, and a relic of the ye old AOL chat rooms. If Gen-Z is part of your market, you'll want to retire "Crying Eyes," too. Try the LOL, LMAO, or you can tag your post with the skull emoji, which is a way of saying," you're killing me with your humor.

Chill out with a Pantsdrunk

The Finnish are among the happiest in the world. Gender equality and the best educational system may have something to do with it. But we put our cash on the tradition of "Pantsdrunk" or Kalsarikännit in Finnish. It's about shutting down your pandemic-crazed mind, curling up on your couch in your underwear, and having a few cold ones. Sounds heavenly.

Breakup the Fauci Way

Dr. Anothony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President, has also become our explainer- and reassurer-in chief and the inspiration behind a new slang term, Fauci-ing. When you Fauci someone, you break up with them someone over the pandemic. The slang first popped out on the Plenty of Fish dating site. Fauci seems to approve of the word, and he enjoys his new status as an 80-year-old heartthrob. Who wouldn't?