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I don't think this is generally true. The purpose of long form writing is to make the reader draw a conclusion that they may not agree with at the beginning of the article. Studies have shown that once we form a conclusion, we're much less likely to change our minds, so if an article lead with a controversial point we'd internally say "no!" and stick to it rather than letting the article make its point. By not knowin…
It means "too long; don't read." I'm not sure why the past tense variation sticks; but it's a label/post-it/card/sign/placard/billboard/sign-post/warning/caute!/message not to read the identified text for concern of irrelevance. It's like a voting system. The ";" functions as the hash tag: "#tldnr", "#tldr", etc.
As a reader, prefacing that first line/paragraph with "TL;DR" means that all I'll have to read is just that part. This is useful because not everyone uses their first paragraph or sentence to outline the general idea of the article. For example, there might be an anecdote, or a quote, or whatever else to start the article.
When someone opens your webpage, they are entering into an implied agreement with you. They are seeking information and you are supplying it to them. If they are unwilling to uphold their end of the bargain by demanding a TL;DR from me without giving me the chance to read my words, I don't feel any obligation to satisfy them.
The other half of this implied bargain is that I simply offer what they came to find, and if I fail them in that regard, then I should be required to post a TL;DR because all 2000 to 3000 words I blathered out should be in 50 words or less. If I was able to offer a 50-word summary, then I would have simply tacked on an extra 25 words and eschewed the TL;DR.
If you don't like my attitude, that is fine. You probably aren't my target audience, and this is fine. The World Wide Web is a very large place.
The US military frequently uses the abbreviation "BLUF" (Bottom Line Up Front) for the same purpose as TLDR at the beginning of an email. It's not like the idea of tldr is some perversion born of the Internet.
The US military frequently uses the abbreviation "BLUF" (Bottom Line Up Front) for the same purpose as TLDR at the beginning of an email. It's not like the idea of tldr is some perversion born of the Internet.
A lot of people won't even read an email unless it as a BLUF
It means "too long; don't read." I'm not sure why the past tense variation sticks; but it's a label/post-it/card/sign/placard/billboard/sign-post/warning/caute!/message not to read the identified text for concern of irrelevance. It's like a voting system. The ";" functions as the hash tag: "#tldnr", "#tldr", etc.
This just simply isn't true. It does mean "too long, didn't read" as in, "this wall of text is too long. I didn't read it."
"T L ; D N R"
and
"... Too Long; I didn't read it"
Doesn't make sense. "N" does not pick out the beginning of any word. If you chance across the tag, your interpretation is less obvious than,
"... Too Long; Do Not Read"
The contraction makes sense, and thus the natural transformation into a meta-informative suggestion makes sense. Contractions serve to convey information, usually engendering more intimate dialogue. So it also invites the question of "why not"? And we all know how that goes. It invites the author and really any reader to a game not dissimilar to trolling, usually. It may not take a position necessarily, in terms of the message, and this is not required of what I am saying; however, an explanation of why one would post it at all stands in order. I think the conveying of information to other readers is also important.
The US military frequently uses the abbreviation "BLUF" (Bottom Line Up Front) for the same purpose as TLDR at the beginning of an email. It's not like the idea of tldr is some perversion born of the Internet.
If you really need a TL;DR, you failed to fulfill your promise to the reader. Writing should be concise, accurate, and to the point, and we as writers should always strive live by the wisdom of Strunk: "Use less words." When someone opens your webpage, they are entering into an implied agreement with you. They are seeking information and you are supplying it to them. If they are unwilling to uphold their end of the b…
I think the feeling is often "I made this so long because I did not have time to make it shorter."
Of course on the web, this is short-sighted and self-defeating. If you have a valuable thought that you commit to the web, you do so in the hopes that it will be read many, many times. You only have to write it once.
So to agree with dizzystar, respect your (potential) readers and spend a little more time making that thought concise.