There are countless moments when I’m scrolling through our social media pages or checking our email inbox and see the same kind of message from a reader: “What happened?” or “Is there more information on this?” And almost every time, the answer is yes—there is a lot more information. It’s in the story. It’s been there from the moment we published it. But many people never clicked on it.
What I’ve come to realize is that we are living in a world full of headline readers. People see a headline, glance at a photo, maybe skim the first sentence of a caption—and then move on. The full story, the details, the context, the explanations, all of the reporting that goes into producing local journalism—never gets seen.
That has quickly become one of the most concerning trends facing today’s news environment. Headlines are not meant to be the whole story. They can’t be. They are simply the front door to the information that follows. On platforms like ours, there are only so many characters available in a headline. Even a subhead can only carry limited detail. When we cover a city council meeting, a wildfire response, a rollover crash, a local election, or even an entertainment preview for a weekend band, there is always far more information than any headline can possibly hold.
Yet the pattern is clear. Studies consistently show that while roughly 80 percent of people read a headline, only about 20 percent actually read the article. In other words, the vast majority form opinions without ever accessing the full context. That creates challenges—not just for newsrooms, but for communities.
And we see this firsthand at Folsom Times. Our social media reach is extraordinary. On Instagram alone, our page now averages nearly 2 million viewers a month. Our Facebook reach is right there in that same neighborhood, sometimes pushing even higher depending on the season or the community moment. Whenever we post a visual snapshot—whether it’s the annual Santa Run rolling through El Dorado Hills, the sunrise start of the California International Marathon, the Historic District Christmas tree lighting, or a busy fireworks night—the engagement is phenomenal. Individual images and videos frequently surpass 50,000 to 70,000 views, often much more.
Those numbers confirm something undeniable: we are a visual society. People stop for images. They engage with clips. They react immediately to motion and color. And that kind of reach is invaluable to a small, locally owned newsroom like ours.
But what those numbers don’t always show is how many people clicked through to read the full story behind the image—and that’s where the real understanding lives.
There are many reasons this happens. We are all overloaded with information. The constant stream of headlines, notifications, and social feeds creates fatigue, making it easier to skim than to dive deeper. Our brains are wired for the dopamine hits of quick updates, so we scroll rapidly from one thing to the next. Headlines are often emotional or simplified because they have to capture attention in seconds. And on social media, it’s startling how common it is for people to share articles they never opened—a behavior that studies show accounts for more than 75 percent of shared links.
The result is predictable: misunderstandings increase, misinformation spreads more quickly than ever, and opinions form without factual grounding. Entire narratives are built from a few words at the top of a post, not the verified details beneath it.
None of this is unique to Folsom or El Dorado Hills or the Sacramento region. It’s happening everywhere. But in a community like ours—where local news matters, where decisions made at City Hall directly affect our neighborhoods, where public safety updates can inform daily life, and where local events thrive because people stay engaged—the habit of reading beyond the headline becomes critically important.
So I want to urge our readers: take the extra moment. Open the story. Read the full information we work hard to provide. When you see a headline about a council vote, a police incident, a community fundraiser, or a local entertainment event, know that what’s inside that link is where the real story lives.
Be intentional. Slow down for the stories that matter to you. Check multiple reputable sources when something feels unclear. And before sharing an article, take a minute to understand its full context.
We live in a fast, visual, scroll-driven world—and those images and quick updates certainly have their place. But in order to really know what’s happening in your community, you need the words, the reporting, and the details behind the picture.
As the locally owned daily news source committed to keeping Folsom and its surrounding communities informed, we will continue doing everything we can to deliver the whole story. All we ask is that you take a moment to read it. If you had the time to post a comment asking “what happened,” rest assured you had time to read the actual story and not lean on others to read it for you.
Bill Sullivan is the co-founder and managing publisher of Folsom Times, a digital product of All Town Media LLC operated in Folsom, California.
