Salacious titles aside, I’ve been wondering lately what people’s predilections are for digesting digital content. Apart from the easy assumptions that people prefer content like video, photos and infographics – how does size (or content length, more specifically) affect people’s perceptions?

If I come across a link to a blog post in my Twitter stream, am I more predisposed to shorter, easily digestible content because I accessed it from Twitter (a short and succinct communications medium)? Am I more inclined to photo and video content on Facebook vs. longer form notes?

Well according to an informal study done by AT&T on their Facebook page, it seems like character count has a direct correlation to fan engagement.

Their study showed that posts exceeding 218 characters were largely ignored, with significant engagement beginning at around 152 characters. A little more obvious was the fact that less engagement with a post meant fewer impressions through the Newsfeed, and generally less spread.

Basically – people don’t like to read and they’re far less inclined to Like or Share longer content on Facebook.

Are people knowingly making these distinctions on Facebook? Are these traits common across all social channels (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)?

Either way it shows that being part of the discussion is only one step in a larger strategy, and as marketers we need to understand that what we’re posting is just as important.