Content Insights Blog

Over the past week, we've shared the main plot line from our study's first report. People are turning constantly to web content for help with everything from understanding a health condition to picking out shoes. (I admit, sometimes, shoes are a life-and-death decision.) But, people feel they can't count on that web content. It's a tale of great—but so far disappointed—expectations. (Need a recap? Get the highlights here.)

As with any worthwhile narrative, subplots weave and weave again. It's no different with this report. These tales just happen to be told in numbers, a language vital to science, technology, and business. While I can't share the numbers with you here (my team and I worked too hard for me to give them away), I can give you a glimpse into the stories they tell:  Read More >

We just finished the first phase of our Content + Credibility Study. What did we discover? A lot.

We surveyed 800 people in the U.S. and 800 people in the U.K. about their perceptions of web content credibility. This infographic shows a few key findings for the U.S.



My first reaction to this was disappointment. We've made so much progress in the interactive industry with technology, but we seem to be far behind with content. People are using the web more than ever to find content they don't feel they can trust. I didn't spend my career here to have people view content as "hit or miss," at best. (I'm sure you didn't, either.)

But, after having time to soak this in, I'm excited about the opportunity we face. Making even small improvements for credibility is likely to set your content apart. What's more, detailed findings from our study suggest that people are more open than we expected to non-media sources of content—that means companies, brands, government agencies, nonprofits, and other organizations. So, if you're one of those organizations and boost your content's credibility, people are likely to pay attention.

We assembled all of our findings, along with some discussion and recommendations, in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand report. We included some wonderful visualizations of the data, too. My hope is the report helps you both make the case for credible content and think of ways to make it happen. There's some extra detail for the health, travel, and finance industries, too.

Discover More

Here are some freebies, a way to register for an upcoming webinar, and a way to get the full report.  Read More >

I'm fascinated by the Quantified Self movement and the many resulting apps and apparatuses available. We can monitor everything from the number steps we take in a day to our sleep patterns. As I've continued checking it out, I see how this movement has cast an even wider net.

Recently, I read “Highway to Health” in Metropolis Magazine. Author Jade Chang explains that Ford has taken personal data to a whole new level by incorporating wireless technology into their vehicles to keep self-trackers connected while on the road. I thought I'd take a moment to share a rapid review of the article including what I liked, what I didn't like, and what this means for content.  Read More >

(A note from Content Science: If you’re reading this article while also driving, please consider your fellow drivers and concentrate on the road! We’ll be here when you get to your destination.)

So much has been written and talked about on creating mobile content, but one topic seems surprisingly absent from the conversation. It’s an emerging area of content that, if not addressed responsibly could have deadly consequences. What is this emerging area?  Read More >

I first published this post on my personal blog in 2009. I haven't seen much improvement in consideration of content for this type of research, so I'm including this post here. Note that Interactions originally made the article publicly available, and now it's available only in the ACM Digital Library.

A Revolution Clearing the Way to Better Health

If you care about persuasion, technology, and health, read "Catalyzing a Perfect Storm" in the November 2009 issue of Interactions. To quote, "We are on the cusp of a persuasion revolution..."  Read More >