I track a news feed in my bloglines and everyday there are around 100 new headlines from around the world. My bloglines is set to only show the headlines, not the article text. I scroll down the list and an average of 5 headlines per day will really catch my eyes and I will go read the article. Regularly, I try to keep up with the “big stories” but during busy times - like now - I only use impulse when making my selection.

Today my impulse selections were:

Model Campbell released on bail

Brazil ’serial killer’ convicted

Bee fossil, DNA generate a buzz 

I almost selected Blaze at refinery ‘under control’ but at first I had read “Blaze at refinery ‘outta control’” and during the moment between my impulse being fired and my finger clicking on the mouse, I reprocessed the title and thought “oh no wait, it’s ‘under control’ now, I don’t need to read that”.

So…what do these impulses say about my subconsciousness. I cannot say that consciously I am that interested in Naomi Campbell and serial killers. The bee thing is kinda cool. Are the impulses based on the (possible) topic of the article…or on single words that stand out. Like…chocolate.

I want to do an eye tracking test to get more information on how I scan headlines. Just for some understanding of how I generally absorb information. What do I tune out and what catch me?