I know, using a hashtag for the title is a bit too much Twitter-friendly, but it’s also a good way to start a bit of discussion here. I’m totally fed up for the use of “TL;DR” in the social media scene and I figure that is the right time to rant a little about it. So, if you don’t like this kind of argument, it’s time to say goodbye.
Still here? Good. The basic question here is: why do we have a number of “friends” on the social media if we basically don’t care about what do they post online? I mean, I like memes and the occasionally cute puppy (not to mention a thousand of silly games) but using the social media should be a little more than this.
The use of blogs is declining, we all know that. The best part of social media has not been developed to contain more than a few lines of text. What if you want to put online anything more complex than a joke? How do you can do that? The essential in the use of social media should be “communication with others”.
I’ve read a lot of arguments against the “wall of text” and some essays about how to model communication in the social media scenario. I love synthesis and I’m totally against any rhetoric verbosity. That said, I still think that the collective attention threshold is at a historic minimum. You start losing readers after 50-60 words, then you have another big drop a bit over 100 words. Only the brave can master a 500+ words post.
So, where is the space for a complex argument? With the “TL:DR” mindset on, you have to master a superior level of pseudo-language to code enough information in a mere 50 words. Do we have to start a new form of coding to be understood by our contacts? Say, an animated GIF for the introduction, 25 words, a meme for the bridge and the 25 words reserved for the conclusion? Sounds a little bit crazy to me.
Angelo Benuzzi 