Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

[I am on a passionate splurge today. Sorry.] Seriously read this.

I do not understand why when people open a thread and see that it is more than a few words/sentances long, they give up.

The long threads are generally the ones with the most meaning. Everyone seems to get discouraged by long thoughtful threads. I just feel like they are the important ones to read.

I guess this goes back to the lazy-ness. But if you look around it seems to me that there are more reply's to random things, games, chit-chat, whatever. But when you see a thread that is lengthy there are not many replies at all.

[read below because I didnt want this to look lengthy. But I did have more to say. and yes I realize I shuda put it up here. but then I wouldnt be given a chance by many]

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

So basically what I was trying to get out in the above is--

Dont run away from lengthy threads. Yes they may take you a minute to read. But you could learn an important life lesson or just something useful.

And I am fairly sure if you are on here going through posts [and are anything like me], that you are just randomly looking at posts and not doing anything tooo important. So it couldnt hurt to take a minute out of your day to read.

:) But you dont have to. Its just my suggestion. I know I learn alot.


Oh yeah, my main reason for this is because in a chat with FIRSTers. They kinda laughed at me for making a long post and said people wouldnt read it because it was lengthy. And that kinda upset me. I know its late... but I just mean in general people seem to run away.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Sometimes (especially when longer threads are made at night) I'm just too darn tired to type out the coherent, lengthy response the thread deserves (such is the case with a few threads floating around tonight!) Usually, I go back the next day and say what I want to say.

I should add:

Normally, I read through the entire 'lengthy' thread right away; it just takes a day or two to respond.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

I think i partially fall under the "lazy" category. No doubt, if I see a long response, and there are many of them, i groan. BUT I don't stop there because if the thread's worth it, then it's certainly better finding a meaningless activity to engage in.

There are so many posts here that are worth the time taken to read them. I agree with Ashely, just read them. Even if you have to force yourself to sit there and complete the paragraph (as I find myself in that situation myself sometimes because I have trouble concentrating), do it. It always pays back (psychologically it does: through positive or negative conditioning)

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

It's the audience.

Engineers have no time for this low bandwidth, long, droning, "liberal arts" style drivel. Give me tables, figures, formulas, algorithms, methodology specifications! I don't want to read your 30 page diatribe on the importance of balance between the "Recognition" and "Inspiration" aspects of competitive robotics! If I wanted to sit around and talk about things instead of accomplishing something I would have majored in literary criticism and gone on to a throughly unproductive career as a lawyer or a U.N. delegate! ;)

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

i agree
you can learn alot from reading long threads
usualy wether or not i read a thread is based on how interesting it is to me
if i'm not particularly interested i usualy just skim over it
however if it is interesting to me i will go all out reading it
the longest thread i ever read start to finish(not hear by the way) was 91 pages when i started reading it and is currently 119
however i know most people are not willing to go to those lengths

anyways discussion threads are generaly contain a great wealth of knowledge and its your own loss if you don't read just because its too long

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

It's the internet. It's supposed to allow for the instantanious dissemination of knowledge. While long posts may be a wealth of knowledge, absorbing that knowledge is far from intantanious. Most of the time that I'm here (on the internet), I'm looking for quick sources of information that are straight to the point. If I don't see anything of interest in the first few sentences, I tend to stop reading. I read with the understanding that the first few sentences (generally the first paragraph) are a summary of what the rest of the article/post/whatever is about. If it doesn't grab my attention right away, I'll move on to something else. Having a long article is fine as long as I know what I'm reading about and can justify spending the time.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

I understand that is an opinion but it is a very strong one. Can passion be explained in a table? Is it even logical to "summarize" how a person feels about a topic?
Now that is stepping on the line. Unproductive? Politics is very important to our country whether I, you, or anyone else likes it. It affects how we live and function. Just because it isn't your forte, doesn't mean it's not important or unproductive.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Ashley... you are on a roll today/tonight. Way to be... I am glad that you are expressing these ideas and pointing out some things that are true.

When I first joined Chiefdelphi, I used to ignore the threads that are LONG and has very long posts. That is when I used to just post in the game section of the forum. Wow, I was an Idiot.

As time passed by, I started reading every single thread (even though it was against my will). At times I used to close them right in the middle. But I got used to reading them now. The thoughtful long posts are just worth it so much.

Yes, it might be boring in the beginning to read the long thread. But try to think what one is trying to say. After reading the "long" post, you might learn something. Think positive. Yes, I know a lot of you will be thinking/telling me that I am crazy for asking you to read long posts, but I have been to that point already. There was a time when I used to think that people are crazy for telling me to read but as time changed, I changed... you will too.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Sorry, that might not have come out too clearly, my tounge was firmly lodged in my cheek. But I'm in a funny mood tonight, I figure I'll argue with you anyway. I see greater inherent value in pursuits that are not defined in terms of the petty actions of other people (politics, journalism, etc.). I believe the $10 dollar word I'm looking for is anthropocentricity. Essentially, if you dedicate your life to an anthropocentric feild, you are limiting the scope of your understanding. Science and math transcend these trifling things like humanity and living things, and allow you to experience your wonderful, flash-in-the-pan life to it's fullest, and to realize it's total absurdity.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Let me try to explain it to you. I think you do know that Engineers have a passion. You will be surprised to see how many engineers and mentors are on the forum at 2 in the morning and 6 in the morning, reading all these long threads. A lot of times Engineers do have to write reports or tutorials (that are 30 pages) for the company they work for or a product they are manufacturing. Have you seen any reports before that was made by an engineer? Yes, there are lot of tables, figures, formulas, algorithms, methodology specifications, at the same time there are explanations if that report was to go outside the company. The only time they use just tables and formulas are when they are communicating between teams (I can be TOTALLY wrong on this one, but I am just posting from my knowledge, my uncle is an electrical engineer, I have been in his office several times and seen the way he works in a team as well as his reports he made for other divisions). I think I have a mind that works like an engineer. I like to work with tables, somethings that are organized and not something that is 20 pages long. But I do like to read when it's meaningful and worth it.

Engineers (wannabes) do have a passion...

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

ha i think we all are in an agreement.. you can learn a lot from long posts and all..

just have to be devil advocate for a sec.. short is sweet right lol... but then yea bigger is better techincally...

but when it comes to post...say what you have to say... read what you want of course...but sometimes if you have that time..read it all... like everyone else has send you never know what you will learn..

i try not to be sitting on cd reading everything b/c well i'll never get my studying done but when i can i read everything. it's good to learn. as my grandma says.. the more knowledge you have the better person you are and the more you can do and well nobody can every take your knowledge away from you

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Sorry, you lost me at "passionate splurge." :D

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Oh crap... lengthy word.

Sorry, Ashley, I tried to fight it... now, to make this less of a thread hijack. :D

Yes, lengthy, wordy, long, drawn out, blathering threads and posts can be insightful, but really... who has time for that sort of thing? (;)) When I manage to get on ChiefDelphi, it's usually for only a couple of minutes. If a thread has more than a few book-length replies, I subscribe to the thread, but I don't read more than the first post or two. From there, I just read the new posts and old posts as I can.

Argh... having trouble concentrating on my post while listening to the Linux Link Tech Show. ;)

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

You know, something engineers seem to lack is a sense of humor, but hey, when would they ever need that? :rolleyes:

Let me make this perfectly clear:

I'm often joking. No, really. Humor. Believe it or not, I'm not in the slighest bit serious at times. I'm silly willy-nilly. Absolutely zany.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Is my non-engineering sense picking up sarcasam? hmmm, i need to analyze it more.

But yes Ashley has brought up quite a valid point, looks like this is the week of lengthy posts. I thought this is summer and we are supposed to be on vacation? As in taking a break from everything. Well I guess some people have school starting up, meanwhile I'll enjoy the 20 days and 21 hours i have left. But one more word of advice for everyone:

Ladies and Gentlemen of Chiefdelphi Forums, take a break, we got a long season coming soon. Did I mention its gonna be the best season ever?

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Well, there is some truth in that it's the audience. But not the CD audience - the audience in general.

It's been proven that the average web surfer spends seconds looking at a website before they move on or decide to keep reading. Newspapers use a term called "above the fold" or "below the fold": referring to the fold in the newspaper - the most important stuff is put above the fold so that when it's seen in the newsstand the headlines attract your attention. This stuff happens all the time.

Yes, lengthy posts are sometimes skipped over because of length and....well, in the end it's the reader's loss if they don't want to read it. But there are ways to add a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.

• Formatting is your friend! We have all these neat tags on the forums, we might as well put them to good use. Use bold to accentuate what you're trying to say in a really long post, and more likely than not even if the body is long but the bolding is still at the part of the screen where you don't have to scroll, it will be read.
• Break up the post. Not only with the enter key, but adding lists make your post seem easier to swallow.

And, if you're a reader and you want to catch up on a long thread, in the "Thread Tools" box there is "Subscribe to thread" - subscribe to the long ones so that you don't have to dig for them later! You can set your settings so that you're not recieving emails every time someone replies to the thread as well.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Yet the quote in your signature is from one of those "lengthy" threads... so apparently you read it... oh and one of the "engineers" started that thread... Im sure he reads it... and oh, Im an engineer... I read it... I dont see the weight to your argument :)

The best "engineers" are the ones who can effectively communicate their points and discoveries... without "liberal arts" engineers are nothing but useless computers with no communication skils.

And Ashley, You are on a roll :)

And Jessica, perfect addition to this thread... I cant stand a post when it is a page full of solid words with no punctuation and no capitalization... that blows up my brain (and is what will make me skip a post).

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

JOKING! Argh, I wasn't aware humor had fallen out of style! Maybe I'm just bad at it...

Of course I don't believe that any non-hard-science profession is worthless. I was attempting to parody, by taking to an extreme, the attitude I see in a lot of "nerdy" types.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

I knew you were kidding (or at least figured you were...) thats why I had the smiley face :) :) :)

Humor often falls out of typed messages... thats why I try to use the smilies or "lol" or something of that sense to indicate when I am joking. I think in typed text that is often needed (especially in discussions/debates as deep as the one's we've been in lately!! lol). People tend to take you seriously unless otherwise indicated, because most of the other posts are so serious.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

I didn't feel like reading this whole thread, which, as I understand, is talking about people not wanting to read long threads. The irony kills me...

The reason why I didn't read this whole thread, is that it would take me probably like... 10 minutes. I'm not gonna lie and say I have better things to do, because I don't. But I don't feel like taking 10 minutes to come to the conclusion of "People should read long threads because usually they have good stuff", which is most likely where this thread has said, or will say.


EDIT: Some (relatively) common knowledge in the web development community is that a visitor to your site usually takes about 13 seconds to decide if he/she wants to stay. If nothing grabs their attention within those 13 seconds, they will leave. What exactly this has to do with this thread, I'm not sure. I'm sure some people could make a link or something...

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Take it for what it's worth:

Some pre-Internet wisdom I was taught long ago:
--Your paragraphs should be from 3 to 10 sentences long (my 9th grade English teacher)
--"Telegraph talk" is the inability to communicate with sentences longer than 10 words (I don't remember where I heard this one)

A suggestion, based on recent experience:
If you have trouble wading through long posts on this forum, spend some time carefully reading Herman Melville's Billy Budd. Once you have mastered Melville's convoluted sentence structure, you will have no trouble reading anything posted here! ;)

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Okay... Yes and no I agree with some of what you guys are saying. and I think from now on I will take some of your advice into consideration -- Good speeling of tings, B r e a k i n g things up. Making important things bold, underlined or italic. And whatever else.

Also, I think that by thread I more specifically meant POST. But when people just read the first post of the thread the do miss important things that are said by other people throughout the thread.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

lol.

(I love short posts :) )

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Psh, thats only because you are challenged. :p
Haha. Just playin... you still rock.. I guess.

Re: Lengthy Threads -- Oh the horror!
 

Pre-internet wisdom??? I believe that almost all of my books on building a website say the same exact thing. People will almost always look over anything that appears to be very long.