When people complain about long original posts...

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I know it can be overwhelming for somebody with short attention span to read a post of about 8 massive long paragraphs (I have a short attention span when it comes to reading), but at the same time it's annoying when you want to explain something so that people can what you mean but before long you realise that you have written about 20 lines, and you read back on it and each word is important and if you try to shorten your post as much as you can, you'll then get some posters taking your point the wrong way.

Sometimes some threads have to be long because posters expect everything to be clarified, otherwise you will get replies that don't go with your question. If I really cut a long story short, like for example ''people keep on laughing at me, even though I know I don't look weird or do anything that's weird..'', rather than explaining all the possible weird things that I don't do to make people laugh, I put it in the shortest way possible. So the ''I don't look or do anything weird'' part covers the whole everlasting list I could go on and on writing, rather than having to clarify it all for example by making long lists it makes the post go on forever, for example ''I don't flap my hands, I wear fashionable clothes like nice shoes and stylish jeans and a nice jacket, I walk up straight I don't mean too straight but just normal like everyone else.......'' I don't see why the original posters needs to do all that, but if you don't write that all in then a lot of posters still wrong you so you feel you HAVE TO clarify everything.

How do people clarify their original post without making it so long? Is it better to break it up into sentences, rather than 5 big everlasting paragraphs? OK this post is starting to get longer so I'll stop now.

I usually just read the first sentence of each paragraph.

It can be difficult to express something complex in a short post, but it is worth while trying in my opinion then expanding on the opening post later in the thread. The problem is that there are far too many posts on this site for anyone to read, so people pick and choose which threads to open and which posts to read. If a post is long they will likely skim read or just read the first and last sentence. There are people who will read a wall of text, but they are probably in the minority and will only do so if the poster is someone who interests them or the topic really interests them. Better to grab someone's attention with a fairly short opening post then expand on that later, more chance of them reading the whole thing if it is presented in bite size portions.

I'm often guilty of making long posts, whether it's my original post (although I don't start threads that much) or it's a post in someone else's thread. I try to keep things short, but sometimes there's a lot to say, if the subject matter is deep or complicated.

When I was a child I was severely un-talkative unless I was with someone I felt comfortable around. I was so crippled by "shyness" that I never had anything to say to anyone. These days I talk a lot when I have an opinion, a viewpoint, or an experience to relate. In real life as well as online.

I did too little speaking when I was younger, afraid to express myself. Now you can't shut me up. And if anyone tries to, screw them. I'm making up for lost time.

Joe90, don't feel bad about making a long post. I do actually tend to read people's long posts. If there's me doing it there must be some others who do that too.

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Last edited by BirdInFlight on 15 Sep 2014, 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I read a long post if it's broken up into medium sized paragraphs like you just did. I can't handle wall-of-text but paragraphs are fine.

Janissy, yes, that's when I read long posts too -- it's fine if they are broken into short paragraphs.

It would be easier if posters used indentation or paragraphs separated by an empty line.

I always break my long posts into paragraphs separated by an empty line, space, yes, and I tend to not mind reading a long post that is broken up in the same way.

It's the long posts that are a massive wall of unbroken text that I have more trouble with. But I don't mind a long post that is visually broken up.

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Absolutely. If someone's opening post is a solid wall of text, not even broken down into paragraphs, I just close the thread and move on and read something else. It isn't like there is a shortage of reading matter on WP + the rest of the internet!

Sometimes people get so caught up in the details, they have no clue what the point of the whole post is about. I focus more on the thread title and the responses people make.

I also have the same issue with walls of text and if something it all typed LIKE THIS, I have a hard time reading it. Plus if there is lack of punctuation and a bunch of misspelled words, it's harder to read and I just go back because I don't have the patience to decode the message. I am find with little typos. That's normal.

I'm somewhat guilty of the 'wall of text' posts myself, but I try to use paragraphs as well. Otherwise it's like reading a post from someone who doesn't use any punctuation. Those posts are actually the worst for me. I haven't seen many like that here though; mostly other forums I've used. Also, League_Girl, getting caught up in the details tends to be a trait associated with and shared by many aspies, but I'm sure you already knew that.

I believe it was Proust who once wrote in a personal letter to a friend "I apologize for such a long letter. If I had had more time I would have written less".

It does take MORE time to cram meaning into a shorter text. Even the literary greats of history experienced that problem.

You could try writing stuff offline first, and editing it down a couple times before you post it on line.

For me some topics are easier to be brief about than others.

In the job forum I find it really hard to tell any job related anectdote without getting bogged down in detail because it seems necessary to explain the pecularities of one's own workplace to convey anything to outsiders about it. So I end up not saying much on that forum. So thats my own challenge to work on.

The posts I just don't even bother are the ones with a solid block of text and little to no punctuation. Unless someone is really in a world of hurt, and I'll give it a try.

Otherwise I just skim.

I don't mind reading long posts and I'm a very fast reader so it's not as issue how long it is. It's just if it's a massive block of text it just merges together and is really really difficult to read. It's much easier if it's split into paragraphs but if the paragraph is any longer than your second one I have to scroll down line by line to read it otherwise I can't.

I don't see the point of getting upset, seeing as how nobody is forced to read anything on this forum. That said, I get enough casual silliness, brief explanations, and all that in my daily life. In my spare time, I'm practically desperate to get down to creative writing, studying, learning my second language, and anything else deep and intellectually stimulating. I'm happy for longer posts... if they're concise.

Concise is pretty much not trailing off into off-topic thoughts and only giving as much background as is necessary. In a story about what your girlfriend said at dinner, nobody needs to know where you met your girlfriend, what your girlfriend was wearing, or how old she is unless it directly impacts the point of the story... like an argument started by one of those factors. Too much extraneous detail is like an information-storm, and my brain rejects it all.

I'll tell you something as someone who's made over 15,000 posts here and 2 other forums. Threads need to be like chat sessions to be readable for me. There is no way I can follow a thread that has walls of text each post. It would take me all day. We don't do wall of text posts on my teen forums.....maybe because teens are more used to quick chat lines.....but plenty gets said about major problems none the less.