Comments on: The Shrinking Blog Post

By: KA

KA — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:08:06 +0000

After starting to tweet this year, I do find it harder for me to write blog posts. I think Twitter does have an impact on the length of blog posts! I should save up all my words for a good post eh.

By: Mark Sherrick

Mark Sherrick — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:22:49 +0000

Honestly, I’d rather read a longer entry rather than a two sentence blip. Save em all up and make a bigger post!! Give me a Chris Brogan or UnMarketing blog post over Seth Godin’s one sentance wonders anyday!

By: Regnard Raquedan

Regnard Raquedan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:38:58 +0000

Hey Jordan!

Good points, you got on those 3 sites, altough it’s worth noting that attention span may be shortening by the minute all over the world.

This has pretty serious implications like how we do work and how schools should be taught.

BTW, I average around 200 words per post, give or take. :)

By: Tyson J. Hayes

Tyson J. Hayes — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:44:37 +0000

Oops, meant my last comment to be a reply to something else, sorry! :)

By: Tyson J. Hayes

Tyson J. Hayes — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:44:07 +0000

I definitely think that a character limit for SEO reasons is a bit silly, content and sharing are way more effective then a good ranking on Google. More people are turning to the social networks to get media specifically designed for their interest then searching for similar products.

By: indir.com

indir.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:59:12 +0000

very nice. thanks !

By: @Jordan_Keats

@Jordan_Keats — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:11:07 +0000

Regnard,
Interesting post, what is your word count? (joking). The increasing popularity of Tumbr, Posterous, and Friend Feed, make it so handy to post perhaps people are getting post happy – choosing quantity instead of quantity. For Tumblr, a post can be nothing more than a sentence long question. For Posterous, any email can become a blog post. Friend Feed only shows a snippet of a blog post to if you want to entice a full read, you had better make the first hundred words catchy, or controversial.
I am sure you know all of this already, but it is an interesting trend you have spotted, and discussion too. One friend said her blog was only for ideas that were too long to tweet, and that may be the trend. Either that or Twitter is killing our attention spans. Thanks for the post,
Jordan

By: Regnard Raquedan

Regnard Raquedan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00:25 +0000

Hey Chrispian!

SEO comes into the fold again. But if you ask me SEO for blogs is a bit overrated, especially when it comes to content length.

What do you think?

By: Regnard Raquedan

Regnard Raquedan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:59:12 +0000

Hi!

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but just sharing my personal observation and theories on the matter. :)

By: chrispian

chrispian — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:44:53 +0000

What a great question. I think the 300 word mark came about because of SEO advice. At least at first. I think micro blogging and, really more so, life streaming (twitter, facebook, flickr, youtube, etc.) have pushed that even further along. Texting also plays a role, as does the fact that Gen Y and beyond grew up with communicating online and in shorter, more conversational styles. That, and general lazyness ;) That’s what I think caused it.

Good thing? Sure, most of the crap online needs to be short, that way we don’t waste our time. I’d rather read a bad 300 word article than a bad 1200 article. But I’d rather read a 1200 word great article than a 300 word article of any quality. But I’m a wordy writer anyway ;)