Perhaps a more accurate title for this post would be, “How I Read Long Blog Posts.”
It’s very simple. Perhaps so simple that maybe taking up bandwidth to address it isn’t worth the effort. However, I somehow feel that this post is going to help a few people. If it does, let me know in the comments, would you? I’d be curious.
For starters, I never read long posts online. While some people “scan” long blog posts, I don’t like doing that. There are two reasons:
(1) I don’t want to miss anything that’s of value in a post. If I scan something online, I’ll undoubtedly miss something. Perhaps a lot.
(2) If I comment on the post, I want to accurately understand what the author wrote before I make a remark. I’ve noticed that some people have missed important points in some of my posts because they scanned them. Their comments made this evident. I don’t want to make the same mistake.
So how do I read long posts?
Simple. I print them out and put the printed sheets in a special folder entitled “To Read.” I then read them offline later with a highlighter in hand. If I really like the post, I’ll spread it via Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon (the latter can make a post visible to thousands of people). I usually spread the post after I skim it online, before printing it out. I can tell if a post is worth spreading by skimming it. But I’ll read every word later carefully when its printed.
I have several loose-leaf notebooks full of highlighted blog posts, essays, and articles that I’ve printed out. I keep them for future reference.
Note that I only follow this procedure for lengthy online posts. Examples of what I would consider “long posts” of my own would be:
So these would be marked for printing.
If a post is short (300 to 800 words), I’ll read it online. But if it’s long, I’ll print it out for later reading.
How do you process long posts?
For better or worse, I skip long posts — unless the subject really grabs me and I trust the blogger as one who consistently provides value. Very occasionally, I will copy an especially informative blog into a Word document for later reference, but I never print them, just save them on my hard drive.
When I blog, I keep things short and concise, usually around 200 to 300 words. If I start to go long, I break it up into two posts. I blog that way, because that is the type of blogs I prefer to read.
Good idea! I tend to skim, or just read the beginning.
Something that makes a huge difference, is how it’s formatted.
Give me a lot of paragraph breaks (or any kind of breaks!) . . . spaces that make it easier to read, and I’m more likely to read the whole thing.
It would be helpful for there to be some basic guidelines/suggestions for blog writers and posters;
you’ll get more readers if you make your words easier to read!
Lynelle: Look at the post from the day before . . . it’s called “Advice for Bloggers” (25 Tips). You may want to subscribe so you don’t miss a post.
There are way too many amazing blogs to read. If I don’t read them first off, it probably won’t happen. the same with books. I have to trust that I’ll come across and read whatever I might be needing at the time!
One of the draw backs of RSS subscribing is that it’s easy to miss posts. That’s why I subscribe by Email to the blogs I want to follow closely. In addition, all Email subscribers will receive my “Next Reformation” seminar free. The offer doesn’t apply to RSS subscribers.
I break the rules for long posts and only post once a week, it is more a discipline for me. If I was to post more often then I would not post at all.
As for reading long posts, or even posts that require more than a few minutes to digest I keep the tab open and consequently I have multiple tabs open on my browser until I have finished reading or digesting the material. Like some others have mentioned, if I saved the post I would never get around to reading it – I like the idea of the kindle though for that.
I send long posts to my Kindle to read them later.
I support Judy Gales idea of “time and timing”. I am warming up to blogging and I have decided to be selective in how I spend my time on the blogosphere. Printing out an article or post and saving it in a folder usually does not work for me. I never get around to reading things I place in a folder and the paper just stacks up on me then I place the folder somewhere and forget where I put it. I’ve found a way to save an article or posting along with other ideas around that topic by using, MS Notebook and the copy and paste function. In a sense this is the same idea as printing. Notebook allows me to have a multitude of files on hand for future review all cataloged in a topical order and it is very handy. I will likely use that copied material for reference or backup material later in a small group meeting or in my own personal writing. I also enjoy reading others comments and this venue seems to have a handle on comment sensibility that is far above many other blogs that I have reviewed — Thanks for that!
Safari has a feature in the browser toolbar called the “Reading List”. So when I come to a blog I can’t read immediately I’ve been clicking the little glasses for the Reading List and it saves the blog post for me to read at a later time.
It works great for me because I try to do things in “time batches” (I’ll work on email for 20 minutes, then blogging for 30 minutes, reading for 30 minutes, etc), so if I know I have 5 posts to read, I’ll set aside enough time for that and to leave comments.
That method seems to help me with time management at least – which is something I have to practice on the computer or internet because of the way one “task” can eat up 5 hours of your time.
When you read classic Christian books, it’s amazing how a single paragraph can run several pages. People seemed to be better equipped to follow the thread of a discussion over continuous sentences without the need for bullet points or subheadings.
Today, in a world of photo-blogging, micro-blogging, pithy Facebook updates, and 140-character Tweets; it’s almost blog suicide to write anything longer than the size of the screen.
Thanks Frank I also print long posts. It’s easier for me this way and I can go back and reread when neccessary.
I send mine to Instapaper, and then they are automatically e-mailed to a folder on my Kindle every morning for me to read later. I used to do the same as you do, Frank, but I’ve become a bit of an ink-miser.
That’s a great tip, James! We’ve got some pretty strict rules about printing stuff, I’ll have to check that out.
I do the same. Love the integration between Google Reader/Reeder (Mac), Instapaper, and Kindle.
The only variation to that for me is that I have created a folder on my computer for each of the blogs that I follow regularly. A section of my HDD looks like a filecabinet that has built steadily over the past 25 years… brought forward from one computer to the next and constantly backed up. When I save the file, I alter it to a standard format that I know I read quickly and accurately. (odd fonts and alignment can cause me to miss things)But I leave the document open until I have read it, with modern computers it is not a problem to have up to 100 Word documents open at the same time, even while working on multiple other programs.
With large monitors and my most comfortable chair at the house being the one at my desk, I come back to the longer blogs in late evening or very early morning prior to starting work. When I have tried printing them out to read, I end up with hundreds (probably thousands) of pages of articles and blogs piled up on my desk and my shelf and still don’t have them accessibly filed to access in the future. I found the time required printing, filing, and accessing paper documents to be many times more cumbersome than the seconds required to keep documents filed on my system. In this way I also save thousands of dollars of paper and printer ink, file folders, additional file cabinets, etc.
Random articles are filed by subject while articles by favorite authors are filed by author name, often in two places; by author and by subject. And none of this costs a penny as HDD space is so cheap and I have to have the computer for my business anyway.
Last week I started reading and then printed the rest of the article. Now I would like to re-read the whole piece but can’t find it. Two of the headings were “The Embodiment of All Spiritual Things” and “Toward the Reality of the Church”. Can you please tell me where to find it again? I searched through your articles but did not find this one. Thanks.
Sounds like “Deep Ecclesiology.” Go to the search window on the top right and use that for the subheadings. It will take you to all posts with those words.
What a great idea, to take a binder and put “TO READ” in it…and if the posts are long sometimes I copy and paste into a folder called TO READ but I put the Month on it…
I always read blog posts online. Printing is too expensive. I can search archives if I want to re-read it.
Any blogposts I like I copy & paste into Word, read them & then save them.
For now, since I work a 50 hr/wk job that’s within a M-F time frame, long posts are saved for the weekends, and I do the same as you: print them out and go over them with a highlighter. The only “problem” with this is I feel like I miss out on the comments and dialogues that follow right after the blog is posted, and, before you know it, a new blog post appears! For shorter posts, I read them online and respond more spontaneously with my “gut reactions.” Time and timing are, for me, the determining factors with how and when I respond (or not).
Thanks for the post on blog tips and reading long blogs, helpful info. Zane