In a research article by Pelled, Zilberstein, Tsirulnikov, Pick1, Yael Patkin, and Tal-Or (2017) the importance towards processing of either textual information or visual was investigated. The team found that when a profile contained a photo of the account holder with their friends or in a social setting, the participants did not want to look for additional information. They could infer that the individual was probably extroverted and additional information was not needed (Pelled et al., 2017). However, the majority of users feature photos alone which is seen as non-normative compared to participants expectations. In this situation additional information was sought out in addition to the photo. This was due to not enough information being presented and an inference about the individual could not be made (Pelled et al., 2017). While most people choose to write about their strengths and promote themselves positively, often their own captions will be disregarded if their friends comments are contradictory (Pelled et al., 2017). And memes? They outlined that actually the photo used isn’t the most important piece of information, but the text over the photo is what people remember (Pelled et al., 2017).
So next time you want to make an impact, use a meme. Whether people agree or disagree with your statement, they will remember it.
Reference:
Pelled A., Zilberstein T., Tsirulnikov A., Pick E., Patkin Y., and Tal-Or N. (2017). Textual Primacy Online: Impression Formation Based on Textual and Visual Cues in Facebook Profiles. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(7), 672 –687.
