The attention economy is booming. The average person will spend 2 hours and 24 minutes, the combined equivalent of 4 trillion hours, on social media per day this year, and the numbers go even higher for different platforms and demographics. For example, teens and young adults (18–24-year-olds) have higher usage rates than older people, with 17-year-olds averaging up to 5.8 hours per day on social media platforms.
Why do people use social media? The answer depends on individual users. According to a recent survey, as many as 50% of people use social platforms to connect with family and friends. That isn't all that surprising—it's even in the name. For 38% of users, social media is where they go when they're bored and have nothing to fill their spare time. Other popular uses include finding content, seeing what's trending, and seeking inspiration for things to buy. The latter has implications for both users and content creators on these digital platforms.
"Engagement is the cornerstone of success for creators on social media," says Jin Tang, a software engineer with wide-ranging experience in the field. "Creators can't succeed on platforms with poor user retention in today's landscape."
Winning in the Attention Economy
The problem isn't attracting users. As the popular saying goes, "If you build it, they will come." However, retaining users is not always that easy. In fact, they can come and go within a second if whatever they find doesn't appeal to them. To keep up, most content creators spend time creating more and more content for their community, and the users have no choice but to connect if they don't want to miss anything. Still, none of that would work if the platform's inbuilt features don't empower users.
"Our attention has always been limited, valuable, and scarce," said the author of a Berkeley Economic Review article. "When we go on the internet, we typically have a goal in mind, like finding an answer to a question or conducting research. Once we obtain what we want, we leave the site."
As a software engineer passionate about helping creators thrive, Jin's role involves finding unique and useful ways to prolong the time people spend engaging with content. Jin has spent countless hours developing ways to increase engagement and boost creators' efforts on major platforms.
"One of the challenges I've faced is identifying and developing feature ideas tailored specifically for creators since they have distinct needs compared to regular users," Jin reveals. Unlike users who just want to pass the time or connect with friends, many creators are trying to build sustainable brands, so the assistance and features they need are often quite different. Failure to meet those needs frustrates creators and can make a platform less appealing.
By contrast, a good platform makes users stay longer and want more. "Once we see a platform or user we like, we 'subscribe' to them on YouTube, 'become friends' with them on Facebook, or 'follow' them on Instagram or Twitter. Thereafter, anything they post will appear on our feeds," Jin explains.
Jin works closely with creators to understand how the platform can best support them. In recent years, that has involved deploying innovative solutions like machine learning, which reduces the burden on creators. With advanced data analysis capabilities, machine learning models make it easier to personalize the user experience and nudge them toward more preferable action.
Jin's work proves personalization is a powerful tool. Early on, one of her pivotal roles involved developing a machine learning-driven comment assistant tool for creators, which provided an easy way to engage with the audience. Since its launch, Jin has been able to recommend highly personalized content to users, resulting in a 1.3% increase in feed session time. This increased the creator's engagement by 4.3% and boosted conversion rates.
Tang has also successfully developed machine-learning models that help influencers quickly build connections, form communities, and seek collaboration opportunities. This tool increased some influencers' followings by 10% and feed sessions by 2.2%, which helped them not only survive but also thrive in this competitive arena.
Nothing is more satisfying for Jin than helping content creators expand their reach and grow their brands.
Jin's journey in the tech world was inspired by her father, a self-taught software developer. After interning at a leading tech company in China, Jin attended Boston University, where she studied Mathematics and Computer Science. She then went to Yale for her master's degree before joining a renowned social media company as a software developer.
Jin Tang's Vision for the Future of Social Media
"I've always wanted to build products that benefit people in all kinds of ways," Jin reflects. The recent generative AI boom has expanded Jin's horizon, and she's already excited about its limitless potential in social media.
"I'm currently focused on integrating generative AI into our products to enhance user experiences in new and innovative ways," Jin concludes. "My goal is to create products that are not only creative but also at the forefront of industry trends." With AI adoption set to increase in the coming years, Jin Tang is excited about the future of the social media creator economy and the key role she'll play in it.
