One of my journalism professors used to have a very simple litmus test against which our submissions to the student newspaper were measured “Who cares?”
It was a question that regulated both what we wrote, and how we wrote it.
To be honest I have been guilty of forgetting this lately, especially when it comes to regulating my content.
This morning, I read about how attention is a currency, and a very important one at that. Due to the number of messages people receive everyday, we have all become less tolerant of mediocrity, and to command attention with content that is relevant to your audience is a powerful tool.