Study shows mobile readers engage with long-form content

Studies show news consumers are increasingly accessing content via mobile and digital platforms, but what does that mean for the future of long-form journalism? A new online reader behaviour study released by Pew Research Center shows that mobile news consumers are engaging with long, in-depth news content on their smartphone devices.

Despite the small screen platform, mobile readers are spending about twice as long with long-form news content as they do with short form stories, and this remains consistent across five distinct parts of the day. Readers spent an average of 123 seconds (a little more than two minutes) on long-form articles, compared to 57 seconds with short-form stories. The study also found that long-form and short-form articles attract about the same number of visitors.

“When it comes to the relative time consumers spend with this content, long-form journalism does have a place in today’s mobile-centric society,” the study notes.