Brian Morrissey, former editor of Digiday, when guest editing newsletter Why Is This Interesting recently wrote:
“Brevity is more important than ever. There is simply too much content let loose on the world these days. During early Digiday, we did some kind of personality exam that advised people dealing with me to “be brief, be bright, be gone.” Many publications could stand to heed that too.
I hope this next interaction of digital media becomes more concise. Removing the unnecessary to get to the essence improves products and shows respect for the audience. “Engagement” is too often confused with time spent. The measure is actually just an imperfect gauge of value. Saving people time is always a good product strategy.”
I agree completely with Brian. Tight is might. I recall reading that blog posts, in order to be found by the search engines, need to be at least 400 words, ideally closer to 800. Hell no! Not at What’s The Idea? This isn’t The New Yorker. I’m not in the click bait business. I’m looking for readers. And it’s tough out there. I’m hoping they will come back every day or at least weekly, so I need them to think. I don’t need to show that I can think. And you can’t get there by pontificating and being verbose. Jab, jab, jab.
Peace.
