How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Here's the deal,
When it comes to reading text, the way the human eyes are made, it becomes DIFFICULT for your eyeballs to TRACK from the END of one sentence to the beginning of the next sentence after 3-4 sentences.
That's just a fact.
IF you type all our words into one HUGE BLOCK OF TEXT - you are FORCING people to STRUGGLE to read what you have written.
Here's what I know about people, even good-hearted people. When you make people STRUGGLE to read what you have written, when it's simply difficult - it's easier to NOT read it. That's right, people won't read huge chunks of text. Instead, they will simple >click away<.
So when you start a thread on this forum or ANY online social media platform AND you type in HUGE CHUNKS or BLOCKS of text - you're making it difficult to get help because you're making it difficult for people to read what you have written.
Me?
I won't read huge chunks of text. It's simply too difficult. This makes it time consuming. So because I had Admin authority on this forum, when I see people type in HUGE chunks of text, the first thing I'll do is EDIT their post and place the cursor after a few sentences and hit the old [ENTER] key and BREAK-UP the huge block of text simply so I can read the freaking thing.
Been doing this for 11 years now on this forum and after opening an e-mail this morning, only to see a HUGE BLOCK OF TEXT - not a single break in the entire thing. And after editing people's posts on this forum for YEARS now so not only can I read it but so other forum members can read it - I finally decided to write this article and this way moving forward I can share it with people that don't understand the above with a blue clickable link at the top of this article. :laughing:
Come on folks.... it's not that hard....
The BIG PICTURE is this,
When you type in huge blocks of text - you're hurting yourself. Naturally good-hearted people on this forum that with their own FREE TIME - that would normally click the [Post Reply] button and try to help you.... they'll simply >click away<.
So think. Hit that [ENTER] key once in a while. Break up your huge chunks or blocks of text into SMALLER BITE SIZE CHUNKS that the human eye can more easily read and digest.
What I've written above is an example of NOT writing in huge blocks of text. It's not that hard.
:props:
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
I couldn’t agree more. I simply ignore posts with large chunks of texts even if they contain valuable info. It’s just a hassle to attempt to read it and I’m sure we are all here to avoid hassles.
Good post, Mike!
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bill D
I couldn’t agree more. I simply ignore posts with large chunks of texts even if they contain valuable info.
It’s just a hassle to attempt to read it and I’m sure we are all here to avoid hassles.
I am vindicated. Thank you Bill for sharing the above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bill D
Good post, Mike!
I'm just trying to help people help themselves.
Much in the same way I try to help people get great results when they detail a car, I'm trying to help people get great results when they make a post to this forum.
Reality is - people should type with breaks no matter where they are typing. The problem with this is - Facebook and Instagram don't lend themselves to this type of typing. Neither does Twitter. There are work-arounds, like typing with breaks in a Word Processor and then copying and pasting into one of the above aforementioned social media platforms but that requires more time and work.
If people don't read what you write - it's kind of like wasting your time.
:)
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
I’m never a fan of diarrhea of the keyboard so I hope this thread may remind folks to break up their text.
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Capitalization and punctuation is the difference between "helping your uncle, Jack, off a horse" and "helping your uncle jack off a horse" as I told one of my production leads who continuously sent me run-on sentence email paragraphs. LMAO
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Completely agree with Mike. If I open a new post and it's about 10 lines of continuous text, I just close it. I'm not reading that.
But if you write 5 blocks of 2 lines, I'm much more likely to read it. I don't even know why, it's just natural to me to do that.
Wrote all caps? Sorry, not reading that either. My dad does that often :(
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Mike, you shared this with me personally at about post 10 in my AGO career. Lol
It’s true. When I see a huge chunk of text, I just hit the “back” button and move on. Probably should read, but I don’t. This guy is guilty of backing away.
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spikey Mike
Capitalization and punctuation is the difference between "helping your uncle, Jack, off a horse" and "helping your uncle jack off a horse" as I told one of my production leads who continuously sent me run-on sentence email paragraphs. LMAO
Another good one one is: "Lets go eat, Grandma" vs "Lets go eat Grandma". Punctuation can stop cannibalism.
Back on topic. Many of the people I work for are heavily task saturated. When answering questions the best way to make sure it is read and understood is to keep it brutally short, on topic, and break up key points into bulleted statements. Anything is long paragraphs is ripe for being missed or not understood.
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Desertnate
Another good one one is: "Lets go eat, Grandma" vs "Lets go eat Grandma". Punctuation can stop cannibalism.
Powerful indeed! :laughing:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Desertnate
Back on topic. Many of the people I work for are heavily task saturated.
When answering questions the best way to make sure it is read and understood is to keep it brutally short, on topic, and break up key points into bulleted statements.
Anything is long paragraphs is ripe for being missed or not understood.
Copy that.
I'm a long winded writer but it's usually because I'm sharing lots of info - or at least I think I'm sharing lots of info? :dunno:
I do use bullet points a lot. The human eyeballs LIKE bullet points and thus will read them.
I should have written this article 11 years ago.
Moving forward I'll probably share it but only meant in the spirit of trying to help others.
:)
Re: How to type in a way that other people will read what you write
This is an excellent thread.
When I see these 1,000 word text chunks, I just shake my head and "click away" like Mike said in the OP.
Spikey Mike made a very funny, but also excellent point about capitalization & punctuation. But I will also add S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G.
If your post starts reading like a 1st grader that has been left back twice, I am out of there...........
