Issue 01
November 2026
SCROLL HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES PEOPLE How pictures and words can change what people become interested in.
WHAT MAKES YOU STOP SCROLLING? Why posts with lots of likes can seem more trustworthy.
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CONTENTS 03
You Were Just Going to Check One Thing...
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The Power of Pictures
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The Power of Words
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Likes and Popularity
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Why It Works
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Final Thoughts & Works Cited
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Behind the Scroll
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YOU WERE JUST GOING TO CHECK ONE THING... A picture catches your eye. The words make you want to know more.
Sometimes you open social media just to check one thing. Then a picture catches your eye, you read the caption, and you end up looking at something you weren't even searching for. A post you would've normally scrolled past can suddenly seem interesting. Photo: Berke Citak / Unsplash
Pictures can grab attention, while words make people curious enough to click or read more. Colors and layout can also change what stands out. That's why the way a post is designed can influence what people pay attention to and how they react.
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THE POWER OF PICTURES
A picture can make you stop scrolling before you even read the caption. When you're scrolling, you probably pass most posts without thinking. But a bright color or an interesting picture can make you stop. Advertisements do this all the time. Colors, lighting, and layout can make a product look more exciting, even when you weren't looking for it. That can change what you notice and how you feel about something before you even read the caption.
Sometimes the picture is what makes someone stop and look.
Photo: ready made / Pexels
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THE POWER OF
WORDS
The words in a post can make something seem more important than it really is. “New hoodies are available” sounds normal. “Last chance! Don’t miss out” makes the same post feel urgent. Phrases like “only today” or “limited time” make people feel like they need to act fast, even if they weren't planning to buy anything.
It's still the same product, but the way it's described can make people more interested in it.
A few words can change how a post sounds. Photo: Liza Summer / Pexels
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LIKES AND POPULARITY A post with thousands of likes can seem more trustworthy than one with only a few. Imagine seeing two posts about the same product. One has a few likes, and the other has thousands. You might pay more attention to the popular one. That's why likes can influence people. A big number can make a post seem more believable or worth checking out. A study found that teens were more likely to like Instagram pictures that already had lots of likes (Sherman et al. 1031). But a lot of likes doesn't mean something is true or even good. It just shows how people reacted to the post.
A popular post isn't always a trustworthy one. Photo: cottonbro studio / Pexels
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WHY IT WORKS Pictures grab your attention. Words and likes can make you want to stay.
Think about a post selling a hoodie. The photo looks good, the caption says “Last chance,” and it already has thousands of likes. Put all that together, and you might stop to look, even if you weren't shopping for anything.
Photo: Arina Krasnikova / Pexels
Pictures get your attention. Captions make you curious, and likes can make a post seem popular. None of that proves a post is trustworthy. It just changes what you notice and how you react.
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FINAL THOUGHTS Sometimes a post makes you stop before you've even thought about why. Maybe the picture looks interesting, the caption makes it sound important, or you see thousands of likes and assume it's worth checking out. None of those things prove the post is true or even worth your time. They just show how pictures, words, and popularity can affect what you pay attention to. The next time you're scrolling, it's worth asking what made you stop.
WORKS CITED Citak, Berke. “A Person Holding a Smart Phone with Social Media on the Screen.” Unsplash, 28 Aug. 2024, unsplash.com/photos/a-personholding-a-smart-phone-with-social-mediaon-the-screen-0cpyFsSUiSc. cottonbro studio. “Woman Pressing Like Button on Instagram Feed on Black Android Phone.” Pexels, 26 Feb. 2021, www.pexels.com/photo/woman-pressinglike-button-on-instagram-feed-on-blackandroid-phone-6963585/.
ready made. “Assorted Posters Placed on Street Wall.” Pexels, 19 Mar. 2020, www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-postersplaced-on-street-wall-3964819/. Sherman, Lauren E., et al. “The Power of the Like in Adolescence: Effects of Peer Influence on Neural and Behavioral Responses to Social Media.” Psychological Science, vol. 27, no. 7, 2016, pp. 1027–35, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616645673.
Krasnikova, Arina. “Women Planning Their Small Business.” Pexels, 28 Nov. 2020, www.pexels.com/photo/women-planningtheir-small-business-6016365/.
Summer, Liza. “Crop Person Showing Smartphone with Inscription on Screen.” Pexels, 31 Dec. 2020, www.pexels.com/photo/cropperson-showing-smartphone-withinscription-on-screen-6347750/.
Meghega, Igor. “Woman Holding a Phone.” Pexels, 28 Dec. 2022, www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-aphone-14920164/.
Swello. “Someone Is Scrolling on Their Phone.” Unsplash, 30 Apr. 2025, unsplash.com/photos/someone-is-scrollingon-their-phone-5nmf-0oW2Mg.
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BEHIND THE SCROLL While making this magazine, I started noticing that I do some of these things too. Sometimes I'll stop scrolling because a picture looks interesting, a caption catches my attention, or a post has a lot of likes. The next time you're scrolling, just think about what's actually making you stop and look.
UNTIL THE NEXT SCROLL. SCROLL / ISSUE 01
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LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER. Photo: Igor Meghega / Pexels