How long is too long a post? With social media, supposedly, you write shorter posts but with blogs, it can be any length. Not that I tested it much but I do know less than 3,000 words is possible for a blog posts (at least on Blogger).
There was an article/post I read where in the beginning, it tells you how long it takes to read that post and I'm sure that's useful to some people but for me, it just add to the length of the post. Are we so lacking in time that we need to time our reading even of a single article/post? But I don't think such things are accurate anyway because there are readers who are slower at reading or maybe they need to look up words or they find reading on a screen harder than most.
I think my posts (I don't always check the length) are pretty decent length, perhaps under 800 words but my fiction posts are longer but I always try to keep it under 2,000 words because any longer, it would feel like you're reading a book. For long posts, I use the Read more feature (my says Continue reading) so readers can just see a snippets of those posts when they browse my blog.
Of course, this does not include photos/images. Photos/images can add to the length visually. It really helps to have some sort of division between posts so people will know where a post ends. Sometimes I find this unclear.
I don't mind reading long posts but I sometimes skim if it is boring because I have short attention span. But I always read every word if I'm really interested.
As a blogger, do you set your posts length? As a reader, do you care if a blogger's post is long?
P.S. This post is 337 words including the title, at least, according to my text app. According this calculator, it takes 1 minute and 41 seconds to read this.
The shorter the blog post, the better, as far as I'm concerned. Three or four text paragraphs max is the thumbnail I use, both for writing them and reading them, and if they can be shorter than that, super! A visually longer post with photos/art/memes is much quicker to get through than text posts, so I don't mind them as much.
ReplyDeleteDebra: I agree that shorter post is better. But sometimes I just had to write long. But I think if bloggers use bold text, break lines, photos/art/images then even a long post can be a quick read. It's those long text without any type of breaks that people don't like.
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I guess one can blog whatever length they want although I do prefer shorter posts myself.
ReplyDeleteChristine: The blogger can post any length they want but readers are picky.
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My very long blog posts are almost always photo rather than text heavy.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child: Long post with photos are actually short post to me.
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I don't think I have it in me to write super long posts; I tend to excel at the briefer ones. But that's just me. And I don't mind reading longer posts as long as they're interesting. Yours are always fun. :D
ReplyDeleteLark: I've noticed your posts are quite short compared to mine and that's fine. We're all do things our own ways.
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I am new to the blog, I initially started with long texts of scientific content. We are now more into photography as I got into the habit of going out and photographing something that will be of interest to someone from a far away part of the planet! I finally think long articles without pictures are boring!!
ReplyDeleteKaterina: I have found over the years, most photo blogs are usually short on words but long on photos which is perfectly fine because photo blogs are meant to be about the photos.
DeleteI agree what long post without photos/images is boring because there's nothing to break the text or allow the eye to rest between reading. That's right I think having at least one image/photo in your post is essential, even if it's a small image.
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I've seen those "time to read" things and you're right- how do they know lol? Everyone reads at a different pace! I'm the same. If the post interests me I don't care how long it is...
ReplyDeleteGreg: They probably use a web calculate like the one I used for this post. Those calculations are really just for the average readers.
DeleteNo matter how long or short a post is, if it doesn't interest the reader, the length probably makes very little difference, at least, that's what I believe.
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I never check how long my posts are. If I see a long post and feel I don't want to spend the time to read it all, I just crossread and stop where it gets interesting for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind long posts. I hate voice messages. And I read an article a while ago where it says, when you write, the reader itself determines how much time he wants to spend on reading it, when you send a voice message, the messager dictates it. I totally relate to that.
Marianne: Readers, that is we, decide what interest us so I think it's fine not to read every single word of a post.
DeleteVoice message is limited which is probably a good thing because some people can leave long messages.
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I have so many blogs that I read and comment on that if a post is going on a bit long I will start skimming unless it is very interesting to me. I am trying to cut back the number of hours I spend on the computer so I have time to read real books. No television until the news comes on at 6pm.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I like to cut down my computer usage too. It's good to read more and watch less tv but I can't seem to do it. I guess you have a stronger will than me.
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I think 3 or 4 paragraphs is enough.
ReplyDeleteTikno: Those 3 or 4 paragraph can be long or short so the amount of words still hard to say.
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