Attention on social media depends more on how you express yourself than on who you are by Yizhang Zhao & Tianyu Qiao & Yirao Chen & Meiying Kuang & Wei Bai & Yankun Yi & Xinxin Huang & Wen Li & Weidong Wang instant download

Attention on social media depends more on how you express yourself than on who you are by Yizhang Zhao & Tianyu Qiao & Yirao Chen & Meiying Kuang & Wei Bai & Yankun Yi & Xinxin Huang & Wen Li & Weidong Wang instant download

Attention has become a vital form of capital in the digital age, yet the mechanisms underlying its allocation on social media remain poorly understood. Using a nationally representative, online and ofine-integrated dataset of a Generation Z cohort in China, we provide large-scale evidence on the determinants of success in attracting attention. Our fndings reveal that ‘how you express yourself’ (using various emojis and expressing multiple emotions) is more infuential than ‘who you are’ (in terms of gender, education, family background and personality traits) in attracting attention on social media. Further analysis confrms a causal efect of the variety of emojis and types of emotions on attracted attention, while simulation processes using agent-based models suggest that empathy evocation is the primary underlying mechanism. We also show that the mode of expression is largely independent of individual characteristics and that the attention gained from highly appealing expressions is easier to acquire than to sustain, as it is highly sensitive to changes in expression modes over time. Overall, our research identifes three key features of attention capital allocation on social media: low alignment with traditional resources, considerable manipulability and ease of acquisition but difculty sustaining it over time.