Snackable Content

A Bite-Sized Trend in IT (That I'm not a fan of)

May 15, 2023

TL;DR: Readers who are avid consumers of online IT and Information Security-related content may have noticed a new buzzword popping up more and more in IT blogs, newsletters and news sites: “snackable” content. The term generally refers to short, simple, and easily digestible pieces of information that can be consumed quickly and shared widely on social media platforms. Snackable content comes in various formats, such as tweets, memes, infographics, podcasts, videos, quotes, quizzes, and more.

But what is the origin and purpose of this trend? And is it really beneficial for IT professionals and audiences alike? I’m going to take a look at the history, advantages, and drawbacks of snackable content in IT.

Image: Bing Image Creator

The concept of snackable content can be traced back to the early days of the internet, when web pages were limited by bandwidth and loading speeds. To capture the attention of online users, web designers had to create content that was concise, clear, and catchy. This led to the emergence of catchy headlines, bullet points, lists, 8-bit images, and other text-based elements that could convey information quickly and efficiently. That was then, when the concept was limited by technology.

Fast forward to today where the idea is really more centralized around short attention spans and the term “snackable content” has become more popular as the internet has become more accessible and mobile-friendly (92.6% of global internet users watch videos weekly on their mobile devices). Moreover, a study by Microsoft found that the average human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013 — shorter than that of a goldfish.

These statistics suggest that online users are looking for content that can satisfy their craving for information in a short amount of time, without requiring too much effort or commitment. This is especially true for IT professionals, who are often busy, multitasking, and constantly learning new skills and technologies. Snackable content can provide them with quick insights, tips, updates, and inspiration that can help them stay on top of their field.

The Advantages of Snackable Content in IT

Snackable content has many benefits for both IT content creators and consumers. Some of these include:

  • It increases engagement and reach: Snackable content can capture the attention of online users who are scrolling through their feeds or searching for specific topics. It can also encourage them to interact with the content by liking, commenting, sharing, or clicking on links. This can help increase the visibility and reach of the content and the brand behind it.

  • It boosts brand awareness and loyalty: Snackable content can help establish a consistent and recognizable voice and style for an IT brand or professional. It can also showcase their expertise, values, personality, and unique selling proposition. By providing valuable and relevant information to their target audience, they can build trust and loyalty among their followers.

  • It supports long-form content: Snackable content can serve as a teaser or a summary for longer and more in-depth pieces of content, such as blog posts, white papers, ebooks, webinars, etc. It can entice online users to click on links or sign up for newsletters or subscriptions to access more information. It can also reinforce the main points or takeaways from long-form content by using visual or audio elements.

The Drawbacks of Snackable Content in IT

Despite its advantages, snackable content also has some limitations and challenges that need to be considered by IT content creators and consumers. Some of these include:

  • It oversimplifies complex topics: Snackable content can sometimes fail to capture the nuances and details of complex IT topics or concepts. It can also lead to misunderstandings or misconceptions among online users who may not have enough background knowledge or context to fully comprehend the information. This can result in inaccurate or incomplete information being spread or consumed.

  • It reduces attention span and retention: Snackable content can also have a negative impact on the attention span and retention of online users who are constantly exposed to short bursts of information. It can make them less likely to engage with long-form content that requires more time and effort to consume. It can also make them less likely to remember or apply the information they learned from snackable content.

  • It increases competition and noise: Snackable content is not only popular among IT professionals and audiences but also among other industries and niches. This means that there is a lot of competition and noise in the online space for snackable content. It can be hard to stand out from the crowd and create original and engaging content that can attract and retain online users.

Snackable content is a powerful tool for IT professionals and audiences alike. It can provide quick and easy access to valuable and relevant information that can help them stay updated and informed on their field. However, snackable content also has its drawbacks and challenges that need to be addressed carefully.

Much like the terms “Single pane of glass” or “hunker down” though I am not a fan of this term, or the concept behind it. One of my favorite podcasters, Leo Laporte of This Week in Tech, (who I’ve watched on YouTube every Sunday for well over a decade and have even sat in his studio during a broadcast) is also not a fan of the term. During his May 7th show of This Week in Tech, when talking about bot farms and Google’s new trend to make search more personal, he observed:

Right? Well, and that's part of the problem too, isn't that, that that's the old Soviet flood the zone techno technique, which is, it doesn't matter if all these bot farms say anything believable or credible, it's just you're flooding the zone with crap so that nobody believes anything. Even the real stuff. We may already be there, frankly. So Google has been slow to jump on this bandwagon. It's interesting. Sendar Pacha was there. They have barred, which is kind of unimpressive, wall Street Journal yesterday said Google plans to make search more personal with AI chat and video clips. And there's a word they use that I'm just loathing, but I'm seeing it more and more snackable.

This episode and comment really was the impetus for this short (and maybe not my most meaningful article content-wise, but not “snackable”) article and got me to thinking about the topic. I fear, if we aren’t already there, that this will make reading IT news stories like watching the evening news, tailored to all and containing little meaningful content, and as pointed out in this article over on Hubspot:

It's essentially the content equivalent of chips or pizza bagels as opposed to legitimate meals.

The good news is that with all this AI-generated hyper advertised click-baity “snackable content” also comes opportunities for more focus on curated personalized content from your favorite authors. Me personally, I’m very pleased to subscribe to several authors here on Substack, and if one clicks on the Check it Out link at the top of my site they’ll be able to see many of the curated authors that I read daily or weekly.

So what do you think about the term and where it’s heading? Are we going to start seeing a flood of AI-drafted snackable content that makes it harder to get to the good stuff, will we end up paying for additional services that add even more filters and guide us to the curated good stuff, something in between or something completely different? Let’s engage in the chat…