How you express yourself has implications for how users react.
In yesterday’s Argo webinar on voice, opinion and objectivity, we discussed several blog posts, asking two main questions:
- Where does the post fall on a scale from “straight” (written in a non-controversial, just-the-facts style) to “assertive” (clearly making or assuming an argument)?
- What effects might that choice have on users’ reactions to the post?
We kicked off the discussion by examining four approaches to the same story.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg released the results of a poll of likely voters in this November’s midterm elections. Posts about polls are almost perfect for our purposes, because it’s possible to read so much into them. There’s no “objective” reading of a poll – there are the banner top-line findings, then all sorts of murky findings that are subject to vastly varying interpretations. Any of the findings you choose to emphasize can reveal your particular biases, preferences, and interests. Here are four different treatments, along with my analysis of their effects: Continue reading