TL; DR

Another recent article on the internet was about long articles. Sorry that I'm not linking to it, but I read it last week and I didn't save it. Of course, I can't remember which site it was or even narrow it down.

The gist of the article was that people don't read long posts. He gave the stats, like so many will click away almost instantly. I'm guessing those are people who ended up there by mistake. I accidentally click on stuff all the time because of my impatience.

Of the people who stay on the site long enough to read something, most last one screen length. They don't scroll, they leave. The author ran through how many people he lost at each point. They can actually measure how many pixels deep people read. Which is maybe taking analytics just a step too far for comfort.

The thing is that this has been common knowledge for a long time. It was one of the first things I learned in journalism school and it's why when you read the newspaper, the most important information comes first and it's been this way for decades at least. For all I know, maybe centuries.

This article also made me wince. I know my blog posts tend to be long, not quick and snappy. I suppose I have a ton of people who take a look and think TL; DR. (Too Long; Didn't Read) Sorry, y'all.

What If I'd Gone Into Journalism?

I'm watching the election coverage as I write this blog. Some of you might know that I graduated from the U of MN's School of Journalism. My major was advertising copywriting, but I started out on the broadcast journalism side. I never actually worked in the field, but every now and then my roots come out. Election night is one of those times.

Tonight, even though I know better, I will stay up far too late watching the coverage and the vote returns. I tell myself that there won't be any results until the next morning, but it doesn't seem to matter--I'm riveted.

I know it's the part of me that was attracted to journalism to begin with that's so hooked on watching. It doesn't matter if there's a major race or just a few local offices--I stay up and watch. Part of it, I admit, is critiquing the coverage the networks and local stations put out there. Part of it is the desire to know what the results are as they come in.

In my imagination, I can see myself as a reporter covering the election, watching every new update and analyzing it. How much fun would that be? It's nights like this where I wish I had pursued journalism. Of course, if I had, it's doubtful I would have had time to write fiction, so I guess everything happens for a reason. But every year on the first Tuesday in November, I sit and wonder what if. And I lose sleep I can't afford to give up. :-)