This week the Community Spotlight team once again tossed lifesavers to seven of your excellent stories that were sinking below visibility. But what if you could rescue your own story before it dropped from the top of the front page? Today, in addition to presenting our rescues of the past week, I’ll explain just how easy it is to disappear in the volume of Community stories and how to self-rescue using a compelling headline.
Published stories first appear in the top Community section, where readers have a limited time to spot it and be enticed into clicking it. Whether a story then advances to higher visibility, or plummets into obscurity depends on the attention grabbed soon after publication. The next move either sends a story to the Trending List—or to the lower Community section.
I analyzed one week of stories and Rescues to illustrate how Daily Kos Community stories gain or lose visibility. These data come from the Aug. 29 - Sept. 4, 2020 edition of Jotter’s series tallying daily and weekly High Impact Stories, and from the complete list of rescued stories. In that week, 551 writers posted a total of 1,103 stories This breaks down into an average of 157 stories per day, or 6.6 per hour. Being a data nerd (for example, I figured out the cost per hair for Trump’s hairstyling and, being generous about his hair density, it’s at least $1 per hair), I reviewed Jotter’s weekly tallies, going back to August 1, and confirmed that this week is normal.
My anecdotal observation is that a story can rocket onto the Trending List with only 10 recommendations during a slow period, and just as quickly fall off. To remain in that high-visibility Trending section, a story must continue to accrue recs. Per Jotter’s data analysis, only 20 percent of the 1,103 stories (220) had over 100 recs. Of these 220, 100 stories had over 200 recs; more than half (60) were written by just 41 Community members. Some of these high visibility stories had killer headlines. Others had headlines that killed my interest, but were written by a Trending List regular; perhaps name-recognition overcame a dud headline. In some cases, reader interest apparently was provoked by the topic, even with a flat headline.
To become one of 12 in the Trending section, a story must pick up sufficient recs and attention in the first hour after publication, so writers must exploit this hour of high visibility. All stories are displayed with lead images, headlines, and bylines. These three items are a reader’s first impression—and if they don’t snag interest, a story can sink under the thousand others posted that day. I hesitate to say this without a caveat, so here’s an upfront disclaimer: I am not recommending clickbait headlines. I am saying that when you are burning to tell a story and share your expertise, take time to craft a compelling headline that relates the story’s central idea and how it is presented, the tone. Is the story light-hearted or serious? Playful or scary? With one hour to attract readers to a story, the headline carries a lot of weight. I often read good stories with bad headlines—because my job is to read everything during my rescue shift. Otherwise, I’d jump right past a story headlined “One more thought.”
Only 1.45% of the 1,103 stories published Aug. 29-Sept. 4 were featured in Community Spotlight. Those 16 rescued stories displayed assorted headline types—some enticing, most explicating, and a few undermining a good story. All were rescued due to a lack of deserved attention; they were drowning in story volume. Of these, the story with the most recommendations (198) was headlined “KosAbility: Conquering gravity - How to get up from the floor after a fall,” by elenacarlena. The headline tells you exactly what the story relates, while “conquering gravity” catches the story’s tone, its spirit, and tells the reader it’s fun to read despite the serious topic. Would the story have been this popular without a snappy lead-in? Would a reader’s interest be snagged in a second by the headline “Caregiver advice?”
Another rescue is an excellent story about a little known historical event the author termed “a rampage of racial hatred.” The headline, however, is obscure and doesn’t tell us much about the story: ”Ax Handle Saturday … 60 years on,” by marinero. I won’t say the story has only 28 recommends due to the headline, because so much else can play into readership, such as name-recognition of the author, particular topic, lead image, and readers’ zeitgeist when the story publishes. But an informative and lively headline can overcome those obstacles to catch reader attention. If that were my story, I’d have devised a headline that includes “rampage of racial hatred”; in this case, it’s not clickbait since the story fulfills that alarming promise.
One story defies my suggestion that a snappy headline is valuable: ”Andy,” by MrsCaptJack, with 62 recommends. The lead image is the gravestone for the subject of the story, the author’s husband Andy, who was killed by a drunk driver. Perhaps the image helped attract readers by adding information that was absent from the headline.
I don’t have a magic formula for headlines that snatch reader attention, but NPR offers detailed advice in ”How to write great headlines that keep readers engaged” and lists five key characteristics of a great headline.
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Specific: Give enough information to quickly kindle a reader’s interest. Accurately relate the story’s central idea. Don’t be vague, but don’t promise more than the story offers.
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Easy to understand: The headline shouldn’t be a puzzle, although it can spark curiosity. Avoid obscure jargon and acronyms.
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Lead to a reaction: Strong verbs evoke a response from readers. NPR suggests asking yourself “How will your target audience react when they see your headline? Will they be curious? Surprised? Sad? Angry? Happy?”
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Not overly clever: Don’t sacrifice accuracy for wit. NPR illustrates the point with this actual dud headline: “What’s In A Name? Potentially, Major Controversy.”
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Capture the story’s spirit: Give the reader a sense of how the author handles the subject. The headline should sync with the story’s tone. NPR notes that “if the story is written with voice, that voice should maybe come through in the headline.”
Ideally, the headline has been simmering in the writer’s mind as the story takes shape and isn’t an after-thought slapped on a story in a rush to publish. While a compelling headline doesn’t guarantee high readership, it will draw attention, as does a clickbait headline. The essential question? Does your story live up to the headline’s promise to readers?
This week’s seven rescued stories illustrate a range of headline compositions relating topics serious and frivolous, personal stories carrying potent messages, and thoughtful contemplations. At least two feature lively headlines for serious subjects, that relate the stories’ central ideas and spirit without promising more than the stories actually provide. One headline contravenes NPR’s criteria, but nevertheless attracted over 50 recommendations. How did this week’s Rescues draw in readers? What entices you to click on a story?
Remember, during the week you can find our Rescues as they happen !! LIVE !! by following the Community Spotlight group or by checking the Rescue list.
Community stories rescued from 7PM PDT Sept. 18 to 7PM PDT Oct. 2, 2020
Cry My Beloved Country by njperson is inspired by Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country, which examines social rot in Apartheid-era South Africa. The author presents an international view of the social and political blight permeating the U.S. and the unraveling of what made America exceptional, and asks “Does this sound like the United States of America we want to pass on to our children, and their children? “
The Language of the Night: Why we read fantasy by DrLori affirms that we read fantasy to escape realism, which we may need to do this year in particular. But what’s special about fantasy? The author presents many descriptions of fantasy—from "a genre with a million subgenres, infinite possibilities, and absolutely no limits" to the author's contention that it is “drawing from myth and dreams that causes fantasy to become embedded in your heart.”
A story I’m sick of hearing (Rant time) by JA Benson expounds on problems caused by the intersection of the housing crisis and low wages with the unfortunately all-too-prevalent closed-minded and bigoted parents who do not support their LGBTQ+ children. “In a more sane system ... LGBT young adults would not be under near as much threat to stay in the closet.”
Another Debate: Bringing Index Cards to a Rubber Chicken Fight by quarkstomper describes a 1990s debate between two comic book writers, one who made a name for himself at Marvel and a veteran writer for The Incredible Hulk. One showed up to the debate well prepared with index cards, while the other showed up wearing … no spoilers here ... something else, which the author considers a parallel to the recent Presidential debate.
Trump: "Well, What Do You Wanna Call It?" - Or a word about words… by Mau Mau is a lively etymological and philosophical look at the label "Trumpism," bringing in disparate people such as Godwin, Orwell, Thomas Zsasz, 'The Boys From Brazil' and others. The author observes that Trumpism historically has been called many things—but should we call it fascism? “Whatever you choose to call it, it’s here and trying to latch on permanently.”
“I’m Just Dancing” - Understanding the Cowardice of White Power by KnucklesFriends is the first story by a new Community member, relating personal experiences growing up "non-white" in overwhelmingly white, rural Pennsylvania in the 1980s and 1990s. He describes how the punk scene intersected with a nascent skinhead movement and how their language then is echoed today by white supremacists. “The ‘no rules’ ethos of punk gave white power an unintended doorway.”
Just one death in 207,000+ by Chaplain M, a hospital chaplain, relates a personal experience with a woman whose COVID-19 death he and the nurses helped ease. “May we never forget that these deaths are not numbers, not statistics, they are people who are loved and needed.”
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT is dedicated to finding great writing by community members that isn’t getting the visibility it deserves.
- To add our rescued stories to your Stream, click on the word FOLLOW in the left panel at our main page or click on Reblogs and read them directly on the group page.
- You can also find a list of our rescued stories by clicking HERE.
An edition of our rescue roundup publishes every Saturday at 1 PM ET (10AM PT) and, depending on how many stories we rescue, on Wednesday at 4PM ET (1PM PT).
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