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[Help] Post length



Simster

"the man's an arse"
Jul 7, 2003
54,948
Surrey
How long does a post have to be on here before you just decide not to bother reading it? I don't mean a quote from an external article, I mean pure unadulterated opinion. For me it does depend on the poster in question but as a rule of thumb I'd say that anything more than say 7 or 8 sentences.

I'm sure everyone is different on this, but there are surely a couple of posters on here who are clearly blissfully unaware of this unspoken tolerance. Those people probably need to realise that essays don't really ever get read even if they are agreeable and well constructed, and in fact they are counterproductive as they make that poster look horrifically self-important and arrogant, that people care so much what they think that they are going to read their chapter of War & Peace.

So this isn't a go at anyone in particular, I'm just wondering what individual tolerances are. I would say that the length of this post is slightly under my own personal tolderance.
 




Chicken Run

Member Since Jul 2003
NSC Patron
Jul 17, 2003
19,803
Valley of Hangleton
How long does a post have to be on here before you just decide not to bother reading it? I don't mean a quote from an external article, I mean pure unadulterated opinion. For me it does depend on the poster in question but as a rule of thumb I'd say that anything more than say 7 or 8 sentences.

I'm sure everyone is different on this, but there are surely a couple of posters on here who are clearly blissfully unaware of this unspoken tolerance. Those people probably need to realise that essays don't really ever get read even if they are agreeable and well constructed, and in fact they are counterproductive as they make that poster look horrifically self-important and arrogant, that people care so much what they think that they are going to read their chapter of War & Peace.

So this isn't a go at anyone in particular, I'm just wondering what individual tolerances are. I would say that the length of this post is slightly under my own personal tolderance.
TLDR

Although i’m not sure what ‘tolderance’ means, what with me being an uneducated fool… 😂
 




Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
57,283
Back in Sussex
Formatting is key too.

Online, paragraphs have to be short - there must be a lot of white space.

Quite often, if I see someone has posted a massive block of text, I'll spend a few seconds editing in some paragraphs to give them a chance of someone reading what they have taken the time to write.

But, yes, concise beats verbose every time.
 


pasty

A different kind of pasty
Jul 5, 2003
31,020
West, West, West Sussex
Depends on opening paragraph / sentence. If it piques my interest I’ll read on, otherwise not. Generally cba with long posts though.
 




LamieRobertson

Not awoke
Feb 3, 2008
48,410
SHOREHAM BY SEA
Formatting is key too.

Online, paragraphs have to be short - there must be a lot of white space.

Quite often, if I see someone has posted a massive block of text, I'll spend a few seconds editing in some paragraphs to give them a chance of someone reading what they have taken the time to write.

But, yes, concise beats verbose every time.
Yep.

Too long?

Ye
 




Questions

Habitual User
Oct 18, 2006
25,496
Worthing
Formatting is key too.

Online, paragraphs have to be short - there must be a lot of white space.

Quite often, if I see someone has posted a massive block of text, I'll spend a few seconds editing in some paragraphs to give them a chance of someone reading what they have taken the time to write.

But, yes, concise beats verbose every time.
That’s like hacking
 




Kosh

'The' Yaztromo
I love verbosity in extremis, a life or death moment … indeed - a debate around stripe width or indeed post length… go long says I, give it your all… no quarter and all that, the whole nine yards of over wrought soul bleeding near parody… chuck some stats in too… lost somewhere in the trees looking for the wood… indeed why use one word where at least four will suffice ?

I’m an anti-succincter, a member of the verbose preservation society… God save Swansman and all the different varieties.

Keep on keeping on…

(Apologies, but I may have inadvertently gone a bit Giles Brandreth this morning)
 








Van Cleef

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2023
842
How long does a post have to be on here before you just decide not to bother reading it? I don't mean a quote from an external article, I mean pure unadulterated opinion. For me it does depend on the poster in question but as a rule of thumb I'd say that anything more than say 7 or 8 sentences.

I'm sure everyone is different on this, but there are surely a couple of posters on here who are clearly blissfully unaware of this unspoken tolerance. Those people probably need to realise that essays don't really ever get read even if they are agreeable and well constructed, and in fact they are counterproductive as they make that poster look horrifically self-important and arrogant, that people care so much what they think that they are going to read their chapter of War & Peace.

So this isn't a go at anyone in particular, I'm just wondering what individual tolerances are. I would say that the length of this post is slightly under my own personal tolderance.
As I read nsc on my phone, I'd say anything that extends past halfway down the screen I will skip after the first para.
Unless the subject is very interesting.
Or a binfest is brewing up.
 








Flounce

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2006
4,246
I love verbosity in extremis, a life or death moment … indeed - a debate around stripe width or indeed post length… go long says I, give it your all… no quarter and all that, the whole nine yards of over wrought soul bleeding near parody… chuck some stats in too… lost somewhere in the trees looking for the wood… indeed why use one word where at least four will suffice ?

I’m an anti-succincter, a member of the verbose preservation society… God save Swansman and all the different varieties.

Keep on keeping on…

(Apologies, but I may have inadvertently gone a bit Giles Brandreth this morning)
Wearing your HIDEOUS jumper I hope
 


Right Brain Ronnie

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2023
623
North of North
I gave up half way through.
This is almost perfect.
Formatting is key too.

Online, paragraphs have to be short - there must be a lot of white space.

Quite often, if I see someone has posted a massive block of text, I'll spend a few seconds editing in some paragraphs to give them a chance of someone reading what they have taken the time to write.

But, yes, concise beats verbose every time.
This is acceptable to me.

If bold or CAPS can be added on the key parts it really help me to get there point across, without effort.
 


Flounce

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2006
4,246
Depends on the subject matter more than the length but more than three paragraphs and I’ll probably give up. Self important twats :smile:
 


essbee1

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2014
4,725
I always read HWT's posts mainly because they're so full of sh*t :)
(That was a joke.) No - I read them because my vocabulary is always
improved by his humongous word usage.
 




Guy Fawkes

The voice of treason
Sep 29, 2007
8,295
How long does a post have to be on here before you just decide not to bother reading it? I don't mean a quote from an external article, I mean pure unadulterated opinion. For me it does depend on the poster in question but as a rule of thumb I'd say that anything more than say 7 or 8 sentences.

I'm sure everyone is different on this, but there are surely a couple of posters on here who are clearly blissfully unaware of this unspoken tolerance. Those people probably need to realise that essays don't really ever get read even if they are agreeable and well constructed, and in fact they are counterproductive as they make that poster look horrifically self-important and arrogant, that people care so much what they think that they are going to read their chapter of War & Peace.

So this isn't a go at anyone in particular, I'm just wondering what individual tolerances are. I would say that the length of this post is slightly under my own personal tolderance.
Why ignore something that may contain something that is potentially extremely informative or contain a lot of useful information within, simply because someone may think it might be too long to read ?

I think it is more a sad reflection on the lack of patience and the unwillingness to take time to listen to / read (other) views that has developed in modern society in general (especially with the rise of social media) and how we are more keen to ignore / shut down conversations and viewpoints which then leads to resentment, and the rise of things like Brexit, Trump, and the Reform party for example.

Hope this post isn't too long to be read :jester:
 


Cheeky Monkey

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2003
23,868
One paragraph, max 4 or 5 sentences for me is optimum. I just don't bother reading long posts, and never have on here.
 


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