How the cocktail party effect changes reactions to your question box

You can hear your name even in a noisy place

Picture a noisy party with lots of people talking. You can barely make out the conversations around you, but the moment someone says your name, you snap to attention. This is called the "cocktail party effect."

Human attention is thought to easily pick out "information that's relevant to me" from a huge amount of information. Your name is the classic example: even when you aren't paying attention, you tend to notice your own name.

Something similar is thought to happen not only with sound but with text too. When you're scrolling fast through your social media timeline and a keyword about your hobby, your job, or something you're worried about catches your eye, your thumb stops. The moment you feel "Oh, this is about me," your attention goes to it.

You can put this effect to use in running your question box too.

Just putting "you" in your announcement changes the reaction

When posting an announcement for their question box, many people write "Taking questions!" That's not wrong, but from the point of view of the cocktail party effect, there's room for improvement.

"Taking questions!" is a call out to everyone and no one in particular. Followers skimming their timeline don't feel like the words are aimed at them. As a result, it tends to get scrolled past.

"You can ask anonymously about whatever's been on your mind lately." When you write it like this, the word "you" becomes a hook, and readers feel like they're being spoken to. On top of that, the phrase "whatever's been on your mind lately" makes a specific question pop into the reader's head.

Even more effective is an announcement that fits your followers. If you run an illustration account: "Anything you want to ask someone who draws, go ahead." If you run a gaming account: "If you play the same game, you can ask about strategy struggles anonymously." The more people feel "This is about me," the more easily questions come in.

Slip a relatable moment into your answers

You can apply the cocktail party effect to your answers too.

When you share a question box answer on social media, the sender isn't the only one who sees it on their timeline. All your followers might read it. If you include something in your answer that lots of people can relate to personally, the Q&A you share tends to get a better reaction.

Take an answer to "What's your favorite season?" Just saying "Fall" only gets a reaction from people who like fall. Try this instead: "Fall. I love that moment around 5 in the evening when it suddenly turns cool. It's hot all summer long, and then one day, out of nowhere, you feel 'Oh, it's fall.' That moment makes me a little happy every year."

People who read this answer feel "I know that moment," whether or not they like fall. A description of a specific experience brings back the reader's own memories. The moment they feel "I know that feeling too," that Q&A changes from "someone else's Q&A" into "Q&A that's relevant to me."

This sense of "it's about me" tends to lead to likes and retweets.

Call out using topics people care about

People naturally tune in to words that are relevant to them. To use this in your announcements, it works well to call out using topics your followers are interested in.

With "Everyone, send me questions!", nobody takes it personally. But if you aim it at specific interests, like "Gamers, tell me your recommendations" or "I'll listen to your relationship worries," people react with "Oh, that's me."

Rather than shouting out to everyone, quietly talking to someone specific can sometimes actually reach more people. Picture what the other person cares about, and choose words that will catch in their mind. That one small touch makes a call out that doesn't get scrolled past.

Once people think "This has nothing to do with me," it's over

The flip side of the cocktail party effect is that information people see as "nothing to do with me" tends to get skimmed over.

If your question box announcement just says "I have a question box. Here's the URL," people see it as information that has nothing to do with them, and it tends to get scrolled past. Even if they notice the question box exists, it's hard for that to lead to them actually sending a question.

The same goes for sharing answers. If you share inside-joke Q&A, or Q&A with context only certain people understand, most of your followers tend to decide "This has nothing to do with me" and scroll past.

Put the other way around, if people feel "This is relevant to me," it becomes easier to catch your followers' attention. Put "you" in your announcements. Put descriptions of specific experiences in your answers. Choose topics lots of people can relate to.

These are small touches, but being aware of the cocktail party effect can change the reactions your question box gets. People tend to react to "information that's relevant to me." Put this to work for you.