While brevity is the soul of wit, it's not always appropriate in an informative context, helpful in an explanation, or useful for convincing others in an opinion-based argument. Also, brevity tends to read as abruptness or rudeness in text, and as we know, it's very hard to read "tone" from text.

Because of the difficulty of reading tone from dry text, it's often helpful to write, explain, and debate the way we speak. I'm a teacher, so I usually default to overexplaining. Also, since I write long forum posts, I figure it behooves me to read other long posts as well.

Thesis statements, TL;DRs, and proper punctuation help.

Next time my students ask "Why do we have to learn thesis statements?" I guess I've got another, "You'd be surprised how many times I use this while discussing video games."

If I see a giant wall of text, I'm moving on to another topic

Other: Depens what the subject is about.

I look at it this way. If they cannot grab my attention and keep it then it is just rambling and not worth reading. I expect the developers to look at it the same way. They do not want to fall asleep at their desk.

Most long messages are not organized or well thought out. They often have long preambles that seem to try to add context but tend to be unimportant.

Only if it pertains to a build, skills or something whereas the OP must go into detail. Otherwise, never.

I scan them but don't read every word. Most of the really long posts, even if they are well formatted, could be summed up in a paragraph or two.

Broadly no, but that's more because people just don't know how to write concisely or in an engaging way. Usually if a text is broken up into bite-sized paragraphs though I'll just read through it anyway, but if it's a massive block I pass.

I do read long posts most of the time, if they are well formatted and structured. Like if I notice there is no thought on the paragraphs or there is no paragraphs, I skip. But if the post is skimmable, I tend to skim it and read it. A well formatted and written text is enjoyable to me, no matter the length.

For me, reading is my preferred medium, so I'm more inclined to read. Text is always silent and easy to pause and continue. I do not need to carry a headset nor do I have to bother others with my consumption of media.

I also like to produce text. I do it a lot, be it for studies (master's thesis, essays etc) or for fun. Every time I write, I consider it to be a practice.

Tl;dr: I enjoy text, but skip if the text is not made with care.

ElvenOverlord wrote: »

I'm gonna be blunt and honest, it depends on whether I agree with the post or not 😂

How can you decide whether or not you agree with a post without reading it first?

I do if it's something I'm really interested in and if the person formats it so that it can be read without my eyes crossing. Paragraph Breaks!

I will but usually only when I've time.
If I'm just poking thru threads but don't have a ton of time and find a looong one I would like to read I'll come back to it later when I've more time.

Also formatting matters too, at least broken up with some paragraphs so it's easier to digest. I'm not going to read a giant alphabet blob.

So, 70% of forum users will not read a message if it's too long.

jedtb16_ESO wrote: »

ixthUA wrote: »

So, 70% of forum users will not read a message if it's too long.

no. just 70% of the people who responded to this. not the same thing.

When statistics are taken, a small group of people is believed to represent views similar to the whole population.

Not really, I do a form of speed reading and look for keywords then if see certain things may stop to read the whole thing, if see other things that tell me the post is just a rat or other stuff just skip over.


sorry for errors and typos assume most speed read when it comes to longer posts and such