Bitcoin Forum

English being my secondary language, I almost always find myself in situations such as stating things using words that could be interpreted or just not being able to make my point across. That leads most of the times to the need of explaining my point so everyone would understand it the way I meant to say it.

However, I've started looking a little bit through my posts and honestly I have a little feeling they might be too long. I write very long posts and I am starting to doubt many are reading them, because reading 5 posts of mine would probably take you more than 7 minutes to read.. ;D

I really like writing and sharing my thoughts with this community, but I'd rather write shorter posts and have them read by more than have long-a$$ ones nobody would waste their time on reading.

So I wanted to ask.. how long is considered "too long" for a post? Are mine okay or should I write shorter ones? I'm trying to contribute as much as I can, but I don't want to turn my account into a wall of text nobody reads.

It depends on the subject. I've made long and short posts.
In general: if you can say something with likes words, got should do it. Try shortening the above post for example, then post it again (as a new post).

There is no such thing as a post too long.

If what you have to say is very long, then use some paragraphs and formating.

One thing that is quite cool is a bar like this one :

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text text

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The code is [  h  r  ] 

Also, if English isn't your first language, you could use something like Grammarly to autocorrect and improve the text.

I disagree. I sometimes have a tendency to elaborate a lot -- perhaps excessively -- to get my point across. Sometimes I have to wonder, are people thinking "TL;DR?"

If you can be concise and still get your point across, do it.

The maximum Characters you can do in a post is something around " 58311 "

You can use the Insert Code function to avoid long text walls if you want !

But the most times i see posts that use the maximum on the Characters is from LoyceV
when he posts some stuff for statistics or some Usernames like this one https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4720640.msg53516701#msg53516701 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4720640.msg53516701#msg53516701)

Would for sure try to hold your posts as less as it can be as far you dont doing an guide for something !
Sometimes less is more.

1. Just long enough to prove your point. Being precise but concise makes your post/reply so easy to read and understand.

2. Avoid reputation in the same post if you must. Some people write walls of text but even after reading through all you see are reputations with Zero meaning.

3.  Good text formatting, paragraphing and punctuation also make a post worth reading through even if it's lengthy in most cases.

I think with the length of the post it does not neccesary need to ne too lang or short as long as it has sense, or they can understand what you are saying and they got your point onnthe topic its okay

Your post wants to be read by everyone, right? You don't need to be a native speaker here. All countries have their own uniqueness in conversation and most of them are not native speakers. So that when their daily language is translated into English, it will produce different lengths which according to native speakers may actually be shortened. However IMO it doesn't matter as long as you get more readers who understand the poin of your posts.

To be honest I also often write posts that are too long despite having short points, for fear that everyone doesn't understand what I'm explaining, especially for those who aren't native speakers. So I made more detailed.

True. But a topic being "too long" or "just right" is really just subjective. Like, a 10,000 word post about the economic aspects of bitcoin would be great for me who's heavily interested in that topic, whereas it'd be too long for someone who's more interested in the technological aspect.

But anyway, in my opinion, if you like being heavily detailed on your topic, then go with it. As long as you're not just intentionally making it long for some reason. And probably add a tl;dr at the bottom for those who just want to get the main gist of the topic.

That is right, sometimes we also need to clarify some of the points we mean so that readers can more easily understand them so that it is not uncommon for posts to be a little longer.

But we also have to pay attention that the writing is not too long and convoluted because there are some readers who pass through writing like this because they dont have much time to read it all.

I also often make posts a little longer because I have to explain a few points and so far I think it won't be a serious problem and this habit might be useful for ourselves.

There are subject matters that can be explained in a few words and there are subject matters that needs to be explained in a hundred words. Both are ok thats why if you look at campaign rules, they ask you to post at least 75 to 100 characters. But it doesnt mean longer is better. You dont need to beat around the bush just to qualify for the 100 characters.

If you can't express it shortly there is no harm to do it more than that, as long as your post could be understood by the reader, that's all that matters. But a good post even when they're long do have to be some paragraphs rather than congesting it onto a single paragraph with 10 sentences around it, that's way not good IMO.

It actually depends on the topic you are writing about. Posting a long and short post has something to do with every topic

If the topic is all about Technical Stuff, I prefer to read posts that are concise and can clearly explain the complex topic into a simple analogy.

If it is a discussion like politics or any topic that needs opinion from other people then it maybe a good idea to construct a long post until you you can clearly explain your point.

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The heck is "TL;DR"?

https://www.google.com/search?q=TL%3BDR

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Loyce tips are good enough. Try to rephrase your own posts and see if you can make it more concise. Vocabs are important here so you need to work that out. For example, your OP could be something like this:

it is also worth keeping in mind that people aren't so willing to read big walls of text on the internet. everyone prefers reading a shorter version that summarizes what it wants to say or in other words "gets to the point" faster specially if the post is more of a discussion or opinion rather than being technical explanation that needs to be long.

If you think it is too long, then it probably is. :)

Well,  if some post is interesting people will read it.
We all have different characters and writing styles so it's difficult to compare.
I suggest you to be yourself and don't worry to much if your post is to long.
Just try to be direct and clear and everything will be fine.

Are you worried to about the quality of your post? Well no need to worry since whether it's long or short it doesn't matter since if you post a relevant which is understandable and in topic it's ok you don't need to post a long paragraph just to impress people here remember quality is more good than quantity.

As long as the post is on subject (doesn't digress much) and it's well formatted, interested people will read it. Don't worry too much.
Of course, the better the formatting, the easier it is to read and it won't feel too long.

English is my secondary language too and I tend to struggle with the same thing. I sometimes elaborate too much, when I can say something in a few words. So, now I have to type the post and then continuously go back to it to shorten it, so that it is easier to read.

My English is not that bad, compared to what I see on some of the things that are being posted here, but I have to put in the extra effort to review my posts to correct the grammar and spelling and to shorten my posts.

I think, as long as your posts are not one large wall of text, people will not mind. Try to keep it between 2 and 5 paragraphs to be safe, because that is easy on the eyes.  ;)

There is no standard on what's too long or what's too short here because everything depends on the individual readers. Write as many as you want but try to avoid post padding. Oftentimes, I click preview and read it first to see whether I can remove or reword some phrase to shorten the post but not sacrificing the content.

Here it is appropriate to quote Mark Twain, who said: "I would have written shorter, but I didn't have time". After all, it takes a lot of time to briefly describe the main idea and not force others to read a long, incomprehensible text. So we all have to make an effort to write clearly and briefly.

Alright. Thank you, everyone for your replies. Will try to adapt to shorter messages in the future.

As a reply to Loyce and a few other members requesting a summary of the OP, here it is:

"I'm not a native English speaker, and I often find myself having to repeat/explain ideas to make them understood. Because of that, I think my posts are way longer than they should be.. and people don't like reading walls of text.

Although I love writing & debating, I think this is an issue that leads to users skipping my posts due to the length of them. What do you think?"

The issue does not mainly come from English proficiency. If a poster has bad posting style, that user will make too long, and distracting posts with mother tongue too.

Posts are made up of some root things: Main ideas (most important), then supporting ideas (less important, and only to support main ideas to clarify its with explanations, details, examples, figures, and so forth).

To start off, if a poster does not have a good idea to begin with, his or her post will always nonsense, and less or zero value.

Let's assume that a poster has good idea to start, his or her post will be lengthy enough if that user does not include distractions to his posts. Whenever distractions occur, posts will become too lengthy.

It's okay to have a longer posts as long as you're explaining your side and it all make sense. That's fine. Don't worry much about how long you post is, because there's always someone who will read your posts no matter how long it is.
It's not about the length, it's about the point you're trying to say.  But if you really find your post very long, then summarize it. Remove the unnecessary and not that important part. But for me, the longer the post you have, the more you have something to say which is good compared to only give one-line opinion that is not very helpful.

I'd rather read posts in multiple single lines than a huge wall of text droning on the same repetitive thing mentioned prior.

There is no hard and fast rule on how large a post can be named as 'too long'. But usually many don't read posts that cross three lines. Post as small as you can so that your posts are read by many.

Whenever you are posting here in bitcointalk, it is not really necessary that you make it too long. The important thing here is that you clearly express your views and opinion about a certain topic and it is relevant enough for others to appreciate and if lucky, merit your post. In my long journey here in bitcointalk, I always avoid putting too much in my comments cause I know others wouldn't have the interest to read it if it's too long. Just put the main point and make sure it's relevant, that would be enough I think.

I also have similar problems sometimes. Sometimes I'm failing to express myself shortly. I write quite long posts sometimes and then I see that poster after my have nailed it just in two sentences.
I don't think it's because of language barrier, because I have same problem in my native language. Maybe my communication skills is just not good enough.
But long texts isn't always bad thing. Offcourse, it will be read by less people, but well written long post is always interesting. But text formatting is very important then. No matter what it will be written, if it will long wall of text without paragraphs. I usually skip such posts, because it's just too difficult to read.

Posting too long is not a problem but it will be good if you answer to the point. I have seen a few of your posts which are elaborated posts. Maybe you can try to explain your thoughts to the point instead of explaining it more.

Also, you can write in points, use some formattings to make your post look good and precise. Lengthy posts/paragraphs without any formatting will make the users feel bore to read.

It doesn't matter if the post is big and small In fact the post will not be big or small, it will depend on which topic you want to post Also if you feel that the post is getting bigger then you can write down the actual word of your subject. But everyone who writes will understand.

I personally do not find your posts exceedingly long, but I do tend to read the threads I’m interested in from head to toe. People have different ways of expressing themselves, and trying to mould everyone to specific patters is not really what this should turn into.

Likewise, those that post one-liners could formulate a similar question pointing in the opposite direction, and here I dare say there is probably more cause. Often people write generic one-liners lacking what matters: the substance of the content, followed by the expressivity used.

Side note: Related and yet unrelated at the same time, I took a look at  Forum Merited Messages- Does size count? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4181253.msg38299950#msg38299950), created quite some time ago though, and with a specific prism that analysed only merited messages at the time (no way I’m going to update it now- I recall it took me ages to complete).
Things may have changed since then a fair share.

Looking at your past Threads created, I could find the below threads

• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5220411.msg53691464#msg53691464
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5194150.msg52804896#msg52804896

They are long but are worth reading. It did not matter to me that it was long as it was informational. I think it is not wrong to explain more. 

You can already tell if your post is too long if you are already adding up too much content to the point where it is becoming irrelevant to the topic already. On my long run here in bitcointalk, I always make sure that no matter how short or long my post is, straightforward explanations are already there and it is relevant in the topic always. No matter how long your post is, it will still count as one. Maybe you are longing to get a merit but that's not the proper way on how you can gain merit, you only need to give a high quality post that answers the topic very well.

Not all situation can be explain in short and you must need a long post that contain the information needed that is why you must summarize what is the most important. Some only need short  post and most cases are not complicated topics. If you think it's long then make it a bit short.