Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Special Report: How far do you read into a blog post?

I was just reading a neat story by that old reliable reporter, Dan Rather, on Huffington Post, when I realized that after reading, perhaps, six or seven short paragraphs... I moved on to something else. And, I hadn't even gotten to the part of the post I had clicked on to read.

How much patience do you have, these days?

I realize I keep most of my posts fairly short, in hopes that followers really will read them - THEN move on to the next. Perhaps, as some of you do, you will even have time to leave a comment. Thank you, by the way.

Just one observation. I'd love to hear your comments!

Families are Forever - but blog posts shouldn't be!  ;-)

13 comments:

  1. Good point about short vs. long. I will read long if the topic is esp. good though. My attention span is short because of all the blogs I follow (not enough time), I plan on deleting 10 or so, to make it easier.

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  2. If a post is too long it's better to turn it into a series. I've had just the opposite thought lately - I'm seeing too many posts with no substance. I'll read no matter how long or short if I find it interesting.

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  3. Was Dan, perhaps, writing for 1970, or, was it me, do you suppose?! ;-)
    Good comments. Keep them coming! ;-)

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  4. I guess it depends on how much time I have whether I continue reading or not if it is long. I guess it also depends if it catches my attention enough to keep reading.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. Comments are frequently better than the posts. Truth hurts, sometimes. If you don't read the comments, you often really miss out! ;-)

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  7. The ideal blog post is about 2 - 3 paragraphs. There are great benefits from splitting a long post up into a series too. Mainly it keeps readers waiting and coming back for me. One nice thing is to put links to the previous posts in the series and at the end of each post give a preview (like "coming up next") of the next post.

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  8. If it's interesting and holds my attention I'll read to the very end, if not I will stop after the first paragraph.

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  9. I agree I will read a long post if it is interesting, and try to read all the blogs I have on Google Reader a few times a day. Seldom go to the actual blog to read it, most load too slow to hold my attention, so those that just post a few lines and expect you to go to their blog never get read by me.

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  10. Could you delete my former comment. It doesn't read as I intended or how I think. I too have been undecided and think just maybe to figure out how to overhaul some long ones. Maybe read up a little and spend a little more time in the post process.
    I think though a blog like gardening and designing and crafts are a bit disappointing if they are short and too brief.
    Thanks for the post as it may have been the inspiration I need.

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  11. I was just having a similar conversation with a genealogy friend who said if a posting isn't short with lots of white space she quickly moves on to somewhere else.
    I think that is rather sad. How much good information do we miss by not being willing to read to the end?

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  12. Excellent continued discussion. Obviously, we all care! And, we will each be diligent to make our writing readable. Please continue the discussion. This is neat! ;-)

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  13. Love this conversation. I believe many of my posts are too long, but not interesting/informative enough for to split.
    But based on this feedback, I will put my emphasis in the first 2 paras, and for those who want more, put the "rest of the story" towards the end.
    Thanks Dr. Bill!

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