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So, welcome to the BOMB's first blog! Today, IAmLikeSoCalledTT and Pikamoar discuss TL:DR (Too Long:Didn't Read). Enjoy!
Legend:
P = Pikamoar
T = IAmLikeSoCalledTT
P: G'day TT, glad you could join me
T: Yo Pika - happy to be here
P: So, down to brass tax, TL:DR - why don’t we like it?
T: Well in short, it’s more than just disrespectful
P: Hmm, explain?
T: As bloggers, our content on the site is our writing and for someone to publicly announce that they couldn’t be bothered to read it is just wrong in my opinion. I know not everyone is going to like blogs in general, but I don’t see the need for a “TL:DR” - it’s like someone looking at a skin and claiming it is too shaded for them to bother a glance at; if we have put particular effort into a creation of sorts and it is above the average blog length, why should people dismiss it so easily?
P: -As an unrelated digressive note here, to those who do not know what TL:DR means, it means Too Long:Didn’t Read. It’s slang for a condensed version of written content-
But back on track, I totally agree with you. Writing is our skill, and it is an art form, in the same way as Skinning and Painting are. You praise one and disrespect the other. It’s a messed-up cycle.
T: Definitely, I personally just don’t see the necessity in writing a “TL:DR” at the end of a lengthy blog post. Surely, in a pertinent time where people are claiming that the blogging section is decimating, and not short of just a quick “xp grab” we should be encouraging aspiring bloggers to inject more effort into their content, not reprimanding those who do, whatever the word count. It eludes me as to why people do leave this on submissions: if they don’t have time or a big enough interest in the blog to read it in it’s entirety why would they bother to write a “TL:DR”? It doesn’t aid the user with feedback or critique, nor does it offer any kind of contribution to the work.
P: It’s also extremely rude. Try asking a skinner to describe his skin in ten-fifteen words, because you’re too lazy to actually look at it. It’s ridiculous.
T: Agreed: it’s like “Congrats, you just announced to everyone that you were too lazy to even bother to give it a go” - if people started to read but the topic didn’t interest them enough to reach the end, I feel like this is a perfectly viable comment to make and far different to not reading it at all. One final tangent from me is how the phrase “TL:DR” is used for pretty average sized blogs half the time. Is this because they are used to seeing just a paragraph or two and so when someone uploads content with a bit more substance they find it unusual?
P: One of the main reasons is that blogs are one of the only things on PMC that require work to enjoy. If you have a beautiful build, you put a beautiful picture of it on the front, so everyone sees it. You can’t do that with blogs. It takes a skill that not many have to make an enthralling blog that people want to read. If you don’t, then people won’t want to read it.
T: A very valid point - now that we’ve covered the negatives should we, in the eye of fairness, cover some of the more positives of “TL:DR” so as to allow people to read a fully formed opinion?
P: Ah yes, we probably should. When you read a long article, with a lot of information, it is possible to get swamped in it. So,it can be extremely nice to refresh on the points at the end. Other than that, though, I see very few positives.
T: Well, occasionally as you said readers can feel swamped by too much information in a blog. I’m not saying that I would advocate this as the best method for hinting that you felt it was too long and too overwhelming, but a “TL:DR” can offer the writer a guidance of what the community feel is a good word count for a blog - quite a useful tool to bear in mind when writing content.
P: But, now on to the one aspect of TL:DR’s that we haven’t discussed yet - including one from the beginning. Personally, I hate all TL:DR’s in anything besides articles, and even then, they have to be done right in order for me to be alright with them.
T: Agreed. The TL:DR should never detract from the content, and putting one right at the start of a submission practically nullifies the rest of the work as there is now no need for you to continue reading. I especially dislike the TL:DR when it is used at the top of a skin description: what is the need?
P: There is none, and that just serves to show how fickle people will be to grab a few more experience points. TL:DR’s main purpose is to appeal to a larger demographic, a lazier, much more glib demographic.
~IN CLOSING ~
Pikamoar: I hold the TL:DR in extremely low regards. Almost every time I’ve seen someone ask for one, it’s someone who thinks bloggers are lazy, and the blogging section is awful. It seems counter-intuitive for someone to ask for a blogger (or writer) to degrade their work, while still criticising them for not doing enough. It’s ridiculous. Granted, there are positive applications, but not enough to sway my views. I dislike them.
TT: I can only agree with you on that, not only are they counter-productive, but I don’t understand why they are necessary 95 percent of the time: they only serve to inspire people into writing less when they post a blog or a submission with some kind of description - and this to me makes little sense. Of course, they can be used correctly when offering feedback that a submission was too long, but this rarely occurs and instead, we are just left with a rude and unnecessary comment to sour the legacy of blogging.
Legend:
P = Pikamoar
T = IAmLikeSoCalledTT
P: G'day TT, glad you could join me
T: Yo Pika - happy to be here
P: So, down to brass tax, TL:DR - why don’t we like it?
T: Well in short, it’s more than just disrespectful
P: Hmm, explain?
T: As bloggers, our content on the site is our writing and for someone to publicly announce that they couldn’t be bothered to read it is just wrong in my opinion. I know not everyone is going to like blogs in general, but I don’t see the need for a “TL:DR” - it’s like someone looking at a skin and claiming it is too shaded for them to bother a glance at; if we have put particular effort into a creation of sorts and it is above the average blog length, why should people dismiss it so easily?
P: -As an unrelated digressive note here, to those who do not know what TL:DR means, it means Too Long:Didn’t Read. It’s slang for a condensed version of written content-
But back on track, I totally agree with you. Writing is our skill, and it is an art form, in the same way as Skinning and Painting are. You praise one and disrespect the other. It’s a messed-up cycle.
T: Definitely, I personally just don’t see the necessity in writing a “TL:DR” at the end of a lengthy blog post. Surely, in a pertinent time where people are claiming that the blogging section is decimating, and not short of just a quick “xp grab” we should be encouraging aspiring bloggers to inject more effort into their content, not reprimanding those who do, whatever the word count. It eludes me as to why people do leave this on submissions: if they don’t have time or a big enough interest in the blog to read it in it’s entirety why would they bother to write a “TL:DR”? It doesn’t aid the user with feedback or critique, nor does it offer any kind of contribution to the work.
P: It’s also extremely rude. Try asking a skinner to describe his skin in ten-fifteen words, because you’re too lazy to actually look at it. It’s ridiculous.
T: Agreed: it’s like “Congrats, you just announced to everyone that you were too lazy to even bother to give it a go” - if people started to read but the topic didn’t interest them enough to reach the end, I feel like this is a perfectly viable comment to make and far different to not reading it at all. One final tangent from me is how the phrase “TL:DR” is used for pretty average sized blogs half the time. Is this because they are used to seeing just a paragraph or two and so when someone uploads content with a bit more substance they find it unusual?
P: One of the main reasons is that blogs are one of the only things on PMC that require work to enjoy. If you have a beautiful build, you put a beautiful picture of it on the front, so everyone sees it. You can’t do that with blogs. It takes a skill that not many have to make an enthralling blog that people want to read. If you don’t, then people won’t want to read it.
T: A very valid point - now that we’ve covered the negatives should we, in the eye of fairness, cover some of the more positives of “TL:DR” so as to allow people to read a fully formed opinion?
P: Ah yes, we probably should. When you read a long article, with a lot of information, it is possible to get swamped in it. So,it can be extremely nice to refresh on the points at the end. Other than that, though, I see very few positives.
T: Well, occasionally as you said readers can feel swamped by too much information in a blog. I’m not saying that I would advocate this as the best method for hinting that you felt it was too long and too overwhelming, but a “TL:DR” can offer the writer a guidance of what the community feel is a good word count for a blog - quite a useful tool to bear in mind when writing content.
P: But, now on to the one aspect of TL:DR’s that we haven’t discussed yet - including one from the beginning. Personally, I hate all TL:DR’s in anything besides articles, and even then, they have to be done right in order for me to be alright with them.
T: Agreed. The TL:DR should never detract from the content, and putting one right at the start of a submission practically nullifies the rest of the work as there is now no need for you to continue reading. I especially dislike the TL:DR when it is used at the top of a skin description: what is the need?
P: There is none, and that just serves to show how fickle people will be to grab a few more experience points. TL:DR’s main purpose is to appeal to a larger demographic, a lazier, much more glib demographic.
~IN CLOSING ~
Pikamoar: I hold the TL:DR in extremely low regards. Almost every time I’ve seen someone ask for one, it’s someone who thinks bloggers are lazy, and the blogging section is awful. It seems counter-intuitive for someone to ask for a blogger (or writer) to degrade their work, while still criticising them for not doing enough. It’s ridiculous. Granted, there are positive applications, but not enough to sway my views. I dislike them.
TT: I can only agree with you on that, not only are they counter-productive, but I don’t understand why they are necessary 95 percent of the time: they only serve to inspire people into writing less when they post a blog or a submission with some kind of description - and this to me makes little sense. Of course, they can be used correctly when offering feedback that a submission was too long, but this rarely occurs and instead, we are just left with a rude and unnecessary comment to sour the legacy of blogging.
| Credit | IAmLikeSoCalledTT, Pikamoar, Zatharel, Chron, MGB_, planetblox2000, AkirAssasin, Torm |
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It's an unfunny, overused joke. That's all I feel about it, really.