Three in Four Share Without Reading: Building Real Engagement in a Clickbait World
Building real capacity today means tackling a central challenge: the rise of superficial digital engagement. It’s not about imposing rigid frameworks or chasing fleeting online metrics. True capacity building is about something deeper – cultivating environments where individuals develop their own robust solutions and connect meaningfully. For youth initiatives and grassroots efforts, this demands prioritizing lived experience, adaptability, and lasting impact, moving beyond top-down approaches that echo the shallowness we increasingly see online.
Too often, well-intentioned programs have missed this point, focusing on ticking boxes and hitting targets instead of investing in the vital ecosystems that fuel genuine learning and growth. But for projects that aim to be more than just a quick fix, real success hinges on the ability to evolve and build something that lasts. The goal shouldn’t be just running programs, but sparking resilient networks, creating dedicated space for real collaboration, and making sure people have a meaningful say in what happens next.
A focus on depth is non-negotiable.
Digital spaces, while offering incredible reach, also shape how we consume information – often prioritizing speed and volume over substance. A recent study in Nature Human Behaviour (Sundar et al., 2025) by Penn State University throws this into sharp relief. Analyzing millions of social media posts, researchers found that around 75% of shared links were forwarded without people actually clicking to read them – “shares without clicks” (SwoCs). This isn’t just a tech quirk; it’s a sign of a wider issue that undermines capacity building and real civic participation.
The study (Sundar et al., 2025) went further, showing that this “share without reading” habit is even stronger with politically charged content, and that misinformation, particularly from conservative sources, gets passed around unread at alarming rates. For grassroots work, this is a wake-up call: chasing quick growth and vanity metrics online, without demanding real engagement, risks mirroring the very superficiality that weakens genuine dialogue and action.
So, meaningful capacity-building has to prioritize depth over empty numbers. Whether you’re working in the arts, digital literacy, or helping new businesses get off the ground, true empowerment comes from giving people the tools, time, and space to really dig in. Without that deep engagement, programs become just another performance, echoing the surface-level noise that dominates so much of online life.
Looking ahead, especially with funding and policies always shifting, resilience and lasting impact are the real measures of success. Programs that invest in genuine agency and foster deep participation – going beyond simple sign-ups – are the ones that will survive funding cuts, political changes, and whatever new trends the digital world throws our way. The essential question isn’t just about where you begin, but about building something with roots – something that fosters critical thinking, sustained engagement, and capacity that truly endures, pushing back against the tide of superficial online interactions highlighted by recent research (Sundar et al., 2025).
Reference:
Sundar, S. S., Snyder, E. C., Liao, M., Yin, J., Wang, J., & Chi, G. (2025). Sharing without clicking on news in social media. Nature Human Behaviour, 9, 156–168.
