Bite Size - or Encylopedia Brittanica
- Thread starter riverhooks
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I know this thread was posted a while ago, but I thought I'd take a shot at it.
There have always been comments on the forum that people don't like reading long posts. This is exactly why I've always preferred written communication to phone calls -- people can skip over what doesn't apply to them or what they find fatiguing. However, it can make it difficult for someone to then contribute to the actual discussion.
I write a lot of threads in which people just want (or only have the time to) answer the thread title, which is perfectly understandable -- we all do it. But the body of my threads are often from a different perspective, and sometimes even in polar opposite to the title, so it makes for very interesting results.
As for short and simple posts vs. lengthy, I think it all depends on your own writing style, what God puts on your heart, and what information is needed to start the discussion. I've seen some instances where threads were started with two sentences, which could work just fine, but it usually didn't give people enough context to know what was really being asked. I almost always include a story about my own situation because I feel it's not fair to ask others to share without laying down my own vulnerability in front of them first.
My personal view is that different people are going to write in different ways, and it's going to resonate with the different types of people in the audience. Like will gravitate towards like -- some enjoy shorter posts, some are drawn to deeper dives. Both have a place.
I'm never offended when people say my posts and threads are way too long to read -- I understand, and there are times when I skip over things that are too long or not keeping my attention as well. We all do. Maybe that person wasn't meant to read that post anyway. I have faith that if there IS anyone out there who was meant to read what was written, God will lead them to it, even if it's just one person. And if not, then everyone has the option to skip over it, and I just see it as another writing exercise that is preparing the writer for the next post.
My only exception is when I get people criticizing what I've written and it's obvious that they didn't read the entire beginning post and its context. I'll try my best to listen to what they're saying but in order to gain credibility, I also think one has to demonstrate that they took the time to at least try to read and comprehend your basic premise. I can't take criticism from someone who doesn't at least try to hear out what I have to say. It's just a basic courtesy of communication.
And when the most critical answers come in, you can often tell right away if the person actually read your post.
Personally, I've always seen writing longer posts as a bit of an advantage over the years. I encourage anyone who doesn't like long posts to skip mine (do what you believe God is leading you to do,) but for me, long posts might attract fewer people, but it also leaves the ones who don't mind the deep dives. Over the years, this has led to several connections with others that led to long-lasting friendships and even real-life meetings.
As much as I do my best to convince such people that I'm perfectly harmless
, I think one of the reasons several of my CC friends seemed to have no issue inviting me to visit them and their families in person for the first time is because I've been here a while and since I write so much, people know I don't have anything to hide. With this much time and writing, if I were a catfish or trying to be someone else, I would have tripped up enough to where someone would have caught on by now. (Well... maybe not. Lol. I think it was in this past year that a newer poster said he thought I was a catfish and also that I was really a man.) Ha!
But that's the other benefit I see to the posting style I'm comfortable with. It seems to attract people who don't mind putting the work into reading long posts and building online friendships. (Not that people who write shorter posts can't, of course, but I do think it's more challenging that way.)
And I'm certainly not saying that those who write short posts are hiding anything; I'm just saying that people have said that all the writing made them feel like they knew who I really was long before we actually met in person.
There have always been comments on the forum that people don't like reading long posts. This is exactly why I've always preferred written communication to phone calls -- people can skip over what doesn't apply to them or what they find fatiguing. However, it can make it difficult for someone to then contribute to the actual discussion.
I write a lot of threads in which people just want (or only have the time to) answer the thread title, which is perfectly understandable -- we all do it. But the body of my threads are often from a different perspective, and sometimes even in polar opposite to the title, so it makes for very interesting results.
As for short and simple posts vs. lengthy, I think it all depends on your own writing style, what God puts on your heart, and what information is needed to start the discussion. I've seen some instances where threads were started with two sentences, which could work just fine, but it usually didn't give people enough context to know what was really being asked. I almost always include a story about my own situation because I feel it's not fair to ask others to share without laying down my own vulnerability in front of them first.
My personal view is that different people are going to write in different ways, and it's going to resonate with the different types of people in the audience. Like will gravitate towards like -- some enjoy shorter posts, some are drawn to deeper dives. Both have a place.
I'm never offended when people say my posts and threads are way too long to read -- I understand, and there are times when I skip over things that are too long or not keeping my attention as well. We all do. Maybe that person wasn't meant to read that post anyway. I have faith that if there IS anyone out there who was meant to read what was written, God will lead them to it, even if it's just one person. And if not, then everyone has the option to skip over it, and I just see it as another writing exercise that is preparing the writer for the next post.
My only exception is when I get people criticizing what I've written and it's obvious that they didn't read the entire beginning post and its context. I'll try my best to listen to what they're saying but in order to gain credibility, I also think one has to demonstrate that they took the time to at least try to read and comprehend your basic premise. I can't take criticism from someone who doesn't at least try to hear out what I have to say. It's just a basic courtesy of communication.
And when the most critical answers come in, you can often tell right away if the person actually read your post.
Personally, I've always seen writing longer posts as a bit of an advantage over the years. I encourage anyone who doesn't like long posts to skip mine (do what you believe God is leading you to do,) but for me, long posts might attract fewer people, but it also leaves the ones who don't mind the deep dives. Over the years, this has led to several connections with others that led to long-lasting friendships and even real-life meetings.
As much as I do my best to convince such people that I'm perfectly harmless
, I think one of the reasons several of my CC friends seemed to have no issue inviting me to visit them and their families in person for the first time is because I've been here a while and since I write so much, people know I don't have anything to hide. With this much time and writing, if I were a catfish or trying to be someone else, I would have tripped up enough to where someone would have caught on by now. (Well... maybe not. Lol. I think it was in this past year that a newer poster said he thought I was a catfish and also that I was really a man.) Ha! But that's the other benefit I see to the posting style I'm comfortable with. It seems to attract people who don't mind putting the work into reading long posts and building online friendships. (Not that people who write shorter posts can't, of course, but I do think it's more challenging that way.)
And I'm certainly not saying that those who write short posts are hiding anything; I'm just saying that people have said that all the writing made them feel like they knew who I really was long before we actually met in person.
I really "want" to be able to engage via text more (penpaling, etc.) but it's just not easy to me. It is true that it is not impossibly difficult but I can procrastinate it into oblivion almost. If someone asks to meet up for a conversation? It's MUCH more on my radar for some reason. I'm better at it to the point of it being almost effortless sometimes. Hearing is so much easier than reading too...except you do have to get people to repeat things sometimes.
Text is just so much more viscous and less "real time".
Ech. I don't want to delve into the limitations/boundaries of text but it's just not my primary though I do feel like you'd be a neat person to have a voice chat with.
Maybe I'm just lazy and that's the real issue. I can say what I typed just now in a few minutes but it took me over twenty to type and think out...alas limitations. It definitely has utility though of course.
Oh btw...I did read that aloud in less than two minutes. Just so different...
It does allow people to read at their own pace and respond at their leisure (if they so choose) but the limitations get to me sometimes for REALLY getting to know a person. It's just so much faster talking (if it's a committed conversation) but that's a timing thing I suppose.
Anyway, I digress. No tl;drs for me today
It does allow people to read at their own pace and respond at their leisure (if they so choose) but the limitations get to me sometimes for REALLY getting to know a person. It's just so much faster talking (if it's a committed conversation) but that's a timing thing I suppose.
Anyway, I digress. No tl;drs for me today
You should just used giphys if reading words is a problem.
But then Jesus is the Living Word, not the Image. So I dont know what the forum can do about it. If they want to make it a twitter forum it will descend into a gossip fest where people are limited to 150 words.
I dont think. would like it to have a word limit, because for some topics you really need the space to explore things in depth. Rather than have everything in soundbites.
For the prayer forum though its best to keep things short. Pharisees loved long prayers where they showed off how long they could pray before everyone else fell asleep.
But then Jesus is the Living Word, not the Image. So I dont know what the forum can do about it. If they want to make it a twitter forum it will descend into a gossip fest where people are limited to 150 words.
I dont think. would like it to have a word limit, because for some topics you really need the space to explore things in depth. Rather than have everything in soundbites.
For the prayer forum though its best to keep things short. Pharisees loved long prayers where they showed off how long they could pray before everyone else fell asleep.
Im one of those people who did have n encylopaedia britannica and would read the 'propedia' part for fun. Britannica came in two sections, the short entries and then the longer sections that had articles that ran several pages.
I would go for the longer articles because it was a lot more in depth.
I also like the long psalms in The Bible over the short ones. The Bible has proverbs too, and they are ok if you just want one or two verses in a nutshell to chew on.
But man you are missing out on some wonderful sagas in the Psalms like psalm 119 what an epic!
I would go for the longer articles because it was a lot more in depth.
I also like the long psalms in The Bible over the short ones. The Bible has proverbs too, and they are ok if you just want one or two verses in a nutshell to chew on.
But man you are missing out on some wonderful sagas in the Psalms like psalm 119 what an epic!
A milk forum and meat forum perhaps?
I had suggested babes in Christ forum for new believers but again, nothing was done. How hard can it be to create one?
People dont want to go looking all over the forums for particular threads. If nobody posts in it then it can always be removed surely. But they all have a place, I am sure Ive started some forums elsewhere and they are still going on even without me. It was because people saw a need, and they suggested it, many people wanted it and it was acted on. Otherwise, why even have a suggestions forum if almost every suggestion is met with a no.
Makes no sense.
In my personal experience, as a librarian I found keeping the big books (300+ pages) separate from all the others and on the top shelf was just because they didnt fit with the other books. But also the readers tended to go for the books they felt comfortable with and with what most interested them. I had one undiagnosed dyslexic girl or maybe she had ADHD or ODD or whatever, found it really difficult to read and was very slow, but she was the one who checked out the Harry Potter books. I never forbade her to read them or insist she read the easy books. Because that was the only books she really wanted to read. She stuck with the first book and made the determined effort to read them even though it took her all year.
If the audio version had been available she could have read along with them (this is why many people go to church to hear the Bible being read out loud, and dont bother reading their own copy on their own) . But if every CC poster just did audio recordings of the things they post it probably would break the internet.
I had suggested babes in Christ forum for new believers but again, nothing was done. How hard can it be to create one?
People dont want to go looking all over the forums for particular threads. If nobody posts in it then it can always be removed surely. But they all have a place, I am sure Ive started some forums elsewhere and they are still going on even without me. It was because people saw a need, and they suggested it, many people wanted it and it was acted on. Otherwise, why even have a suggestions forum if almost every suggestion is met with a no.
Makes no sense.
In my personal experience, as a librarian I found keeping the big books (300+ pages) separate from all the others and on the top shelf was just because they didnt fit with the other books. But also the readers tended to go for the books they felt comfortable with and with what most interested them. I had one undiagnosed dyslexic girl or maybe she had ADHD or ODD or whatever, found it really difficult to read and was very slow, but she was the one who checked out the Harry Potter books. I never forbade her to read them or insist she read the easy books. Because that was the only books she really wanted to read. She stuck with the first book and made the determined effort to read them even though it took her all year.
If the audio version had been available she could have read along with them (this is why many people go to church to hear the Bible being read out loud, and dont bother reading their own copy on their own) . But if every CC poster just did audio recordings of the things they post it probably would break the internet.