Do you read really long posts?

[newmark]

I love long posts that are interesting - 2,000-3,000 words or more is great.

If it's boring, then of course I don't read it - but I wouldn't finish reading a short and boring post either.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by beast

I almost always skip them, unless the person is an exceptionally good writer/the story is really juicy.

And if they don't do paragraphs, fuhggedaboutit.

Same here.

Originally Posted by Mounds

Just out of curiosity, what do you guys consider a long post? An approximate word count would suffice

Anything much over 200 words, with each paragraph being no more than a few lines.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by taylor

yo guyz sry for something i dunno maybe i read them but then again maybe i dont it depends on the situation and how busy i am and how high my blood sugars are and various otter factors that i wont go into now because of ima gettin hungry but i guess what im trying to say is that if its formated well like all my posts than i will look it over and see if there any value there that i extract or any value that i can add but if is on something i'm not really interested in then ..NO WAYZ!!!!.. i WILL NOT read it i notice that a lot of long onformatted posts are in the social and relationshits sections and the emotional sections where people just sort of voomit things emotionally into a text box like a bad dostoevskies novels and you kind of have to sort of sort through the mess and try to make sense of it but what i really think these people needs is to get a journal BEFORE THEY WRITE ALL THIS STUFF OUT becuz that way they get it off theri chest before actually formuloting a clear quest which is a problem half solved as i'm sure you guyzz know cuz when you lack clarity and put it out there then in unformatted mess then that means ppl will lack clarity on the prob you are trying to solve so i guess what i'm saying is that if instead of writin a long ramblin mess publicall if you just did it privately first and then broke down into clear solveable parts then more peeps would be willing to help you but when you don't we don't want to read it and go to the extra trouble and so it's going to be more less likely for you to get helped ya know what i mean guys can i get an amen WUT WUT and it i guess what i'm saying is that you need to actually know your question before begin posting although now that i think about it its not just rambling questions but there can be rambling insights as well which tend to be butter formatted but not always which is strange because they should have clarity on the tissue and want to share their realizations but they write it in such way as to hide their message which seems cunterprodoctive to me since the whole point of writing the post to begin with is to share it message with others isn't it and so i guess what i'm saying with is that it depends... please help.

FLAWLESS victory

[Weena]

Originally Posted by Elrond

FLAWLESS victory

Loved it too Of course I skipped it, then read his second post and had a big laugh. Brilliant.

[Alice Hive]

I almost never skip Steve's post. Most of the time I find the value of his writing in the way he conveys his ideas and not only in the ideas themselves.
I'm actually slowing down when I read his posts so I can be sure to absorb all the value .

When it comes to forum posts I try to find out whether it's interesting or not to me (because there's a higher chance that it's not interesting) by skimming it and then decide whether I want to read the whole post or not.

[JoePike]

My 2 cents...I sometimes skim the first few paragraphs of long posts (if there are paragraphs), and more often than not just skip them altogether. Too much to read in these forums and the more succinct replies are easier to digest.

Long posts are often just rambling with the same points repeated over and over.

But I do read every word of Savage & Erin's posts, and used to read every word of ALG's.

[Federer]

Originally Posted by Weena

No.

Unless it's about a topic I love (e.g: Akashic records). Long personal rants... I skip.

My sis Weena, same like you. I can read at psychic and paranormal, intention manifestation and sometimes with emotional mastery and social and communication.

Still i am not good at reading long personal venting. So i send unconditional love to them.

[Vulpina]

For me, it entirely depends on how it's written.

First off, who wants to read a six paragraph essay that's been tossed into one large block, without even at least some attempt at grammar.

Second, the content. Why would I wish to read into something that doesn't interest me?

And for the moment, lastly, how it's portrayed. Some people are better writers than others. Even if it wasn't something you enjoyed, you're bound to find at least one person who can write it in a way that you would enjoy, where as another would write on the topic, and your reaction to it would be awful.

[alexb5784]

Originally Posted by beast

I almost always skip them, unless the person is an exceptionally good writer/the story is really juicy.

And if they don't do paragraphs, fuhggedaboutit.

Sometimes really long posts are fantastic, especially when the person knows how to tell a good story. I love good stories.

[Weena]

Originally Posted by Federer

My sis Weena, same like you. I can read at psychic and paranormal, intention manifestation and sometimes with emotional mastery and social and communication.

Still i am not good at reading long personal venting. So i send unconditional love to them.

That's sweet!

[Weena]

Originally Posted by JoePike

used to read every word of ALG's.

Me too, but because it was interesting. I never read anything from him that was long personal rants. He just had a knack for writing catchy posts, whether small or long.

[kinworm]

I put "sometimes" because there are some people like Steve who are good at writing lengthy posts. It depends how well written they are and how engaging.

Most of the time I prefer short posts or ones which have been laid out well so I can scan them quickly - short paragraphs and lists make for easier online reading.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by BillyTheAdult

I'm just curious if there are people who skip them entirely. I have to admit that sometimes it makes me skip them, but not always. If you don't want to say publicly, just vote.

It depends on the topic. Some topics I am simply not interested in.

[BillyTheAdult]

Reading these responses makes me think I should add working on my writing skills to the list of stuff to do.

[Poiesis Hagakure]

Ha... and I thought all this time it would be rude of me to write in a thread without reading them all. I wondered how everybody had so much time

[AKLight]

I love reading long posts if I think they are well-written, helpful, and interesting. Otherwise, I do lot of skimming and skipping.

A lot of the time if a post is really long, especially if it's an opening post, I'll read the first few responses instead of the original post. This saves me a lot of time. Other people tend to respond to the point of the opening post instead of the babble, so I can tell whether the long post is worth reading or not by reading the responses to it.

Here's an example.

Thread Title: Should I do this?

Word Count: 1,545

First Response: "No, because it's not possible to sell your kidney on eBay."

Time Saved: 3 minutes

[curiouslyrandom]

Originally Posted by beast

I almost always skip them, unless the person is an exceptionally good writer/the story is really juicy.

And if they don't do paragraphs, fuhggedaboutit.

Oh yes, PARAGRAPHS PLEASE!

What I don't get is why so many long-winded posts start off with "I'll try to keep this short" and fail miserably.

Write your story. Read it back. Cut out the fluff (probably half of what you wrote). THEN hit "submit".

[curiouslyrandom]

Originally Posted by AKLight

Here's an example.

Thread Title: Should I do this?

Word Count: 1,545

First Response: "No, because it's not possible to sell your kidney on eBay."

Time Saved: 3 minutes

BWAHAHA! Thank you for the laugh.

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by BillyTheAdult

I'm just curious if there are people who skip them entirely. I have to admit that sometimes it makes me skip them, but not always. If you don't want to say publicly, just vote.

TL; DR

Originally Posted by Weena

No.

Unless it's about a topic I love (e.g: Akashic records).

Never knew. Now I will hunt out every Akashic records post.

Originally Posted by taylor

yo guyz sry for something i dunno maybe i read them but then again maybe i dont it depends on the situation and how busy i am and how high my blood sugars are and various otter factors that i wont go into now because of ima gettin hungry but i guess what im trying to say is that if its formated well like all my posts than i will look it over and see if there any value there that i extract or any value that i can add but if is on something i'm not really interested in then ..NO WAYZ!!!!.. i WILL NOT read it i notice that a lot of long onformatted posts are in the social and relationshits sections and the emotional sections where people just sort of voomit things emotionally into a text box like a bad dostoevskies novels and you kind of have to sort of sort through the mess and try to make sense of it but what i really think these people needs is to get a journal BEFORE THEY WRITE ALL THIS STUFF OUT becuz that way they get it off theri chest before actually formuloting a clear quest which is a problem half solved as i'm sure you guyzz know cuz when you lack clarity and put it out there then in unformatted mess then that means ppl will lack clarity on the prob you are trying to solve so i guess what i'm saying is that if instead of writin a long ramblin mess publicall if you just did it privately first and then broke down into clear solveable parts then more peeps would be willing to help you but when you don't we don't want to read it and go to the extra trouble and so it's going to be more less likely for you to get helped ya know what i mean guys can i get an amen WUT WUT and it i guess what i'm saying is that you need to actually know your question before begin posting although now that i think about it its not just rambling questions but there can be rambling insights as well which tend to be butter formatted but not always which is strange because they should have clarity on the tissue and want to share their realizations but they write it in such way as to hide their message which seems cunterprodoctive to me since the whole point of writing the post to begin with is to share it message with others isn't it and so i guess what i'm saying with is that it depends... please help.

AMAZE. Can't rep you any more, unfortunately.

[brendannz]

It's really a matter of what time you have..

Since shorter post take less time to read, it's easier to think of what to say, but longer posts require more analysis etc.

However, some really long posts contain a bit of analysis paralysis by the OP to them.