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TL;DR: most people can't English anymore.
I do agree that the acronym TLDR doesn't make sense, perhaps we need a new acronym?
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…
Agreed. Aside from assisting in removing bias from the reader, working your way through to the conclusion allows it to remain a mystery to the reader, allowing them to enjoy being walked through the process of discovery, rather than just giving them an answer, then doing a "here's how we got there", which (in some cases) becomes less interesting once the answer is known. To respond to Fusiongyro's point that this is…
1. If you're writing a piece in which "the journey" isn't important, then you should put your conclusions up front like a good journalist.
2. If you're writing a considered, long-form piece in which readers' appreciation of your conclusions is path dependent then a TL;DR is obviously counterproductive - if it's necnessary for a reader to actually read the piece, it doesn't make sense to reward those who skip to the end or didn't comprehend what they read.
TFA took point 1, you and GP took point 2. Nobody (except Charlesmigli) has given an argument that TL;DRs have a place.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That biggest problem you find is your own creation- it is a result of assuming that "TLDR" is the same as "summary". While it may have the same literal meaning, clearly it is not the same as "summary", because you find it to be used differently. This is because it has a different purpose in discourse. Most synonym pairs are like this; you think they have the same meaning, until you do a corpus analysis and discover t…
I've never seen a TL;DR that wouldn't serve the reader better if it were put at the beginning, rather than the end.
It seems bad to admit this, but I'm either too lazy to go back and rewrite or I just don't care enough about the audience to give them a well-formed read. Occasionally I think I'd feel "dirty" going back and putting the conclusion at the top, as though I'd be pretending that the insight came to me fully-formed, that my stream of consciousness just happened to dispense a perfect micro-essay on the topic.
That said, many of the best comments I read are "well-composed", and the posts made without relfection or consideration probably contribute to the decline in tone.
TL;DR: I'm conflicted.
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…
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-11-08/news/091107024...
'A reader of "The Elements of Style" once sent E. B. White a clipping of a book review that misquoted William Strunk as having advised writers to "Use less words!" White wrote back: "I often wish Strunk could come alive so that I might hear the gnashing of his teeth."'
TLDR is a pragmatic device; it's a written discourse marker. Calling it "unnecessary" is just like saying that "well...", "y'know", "so...", "like" and all those other little "filler words" that your high school English teacher doesn't like are "unnecessary". In formal prose, where all that's supposed to matter is textual semantics, sure, they're not necessary, and I wouldn't use them there. But in informal discourse…
Yes, exactly. The "TLDR" is all-caps, so it grabs your eye out of the wall-o-text that you may be skimming over, and says "hey here is my basic point". And maybe then you'll go "hey that's an interesting point" and scroll back up and read their lengthy argument, story, or whatever, in all its labrynthine discoursiveness. And now to demonstrate it I will include some lorem ipsum. Hipster Ipsum, to be precise. Swag pol…
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…
If paraphrasing Strunk he deserves a grammatically correct quote: "Use fewer words."
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/less-versus-fewer.aspx
// As noted in a sibling comment, the actual quote is "Omit needless words."
It's just idiots (probably the sort of people who go to Reddit) started adding their own TLDR at the end their posts.
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…
That's both a very narrow, unhealthy view of writing and a pretty fatalistic attitude towards your readers. I don't like TL;DR any more than the author of the article, but I don't think having an abstract or brief synopsis decreases the likelihood of you "winning" the essay—or if it did, that this alone would constitute a good reason not to use them.
Characterizing my opinion of writing as either something you 'win' or 'lose' is itself narrow (and frankly, almost insulting). I have to feel that you coming off this way is a byproduct of the Internet. I'm not trying to chastise you here. I understand that what I wrote initially might come off in a way I didn't intend, but you have to meet me halfway by assuming I'm not a total jerk.
Writing isn't about winning or losing, it's about sharing ideas. And yes, there are better ways and worse ways to share ideas. A conversation around a dinner table is probably better than an essay ever will be - but you can still try to get there. You can either hear this fact and say "aha, I should try to be more clear in sharing my ideas" or you can say "that's fatalistic, and writing isn't a game." I can't fault you for choosing the latter, but I do ask that when I choose the former you remember that I do it just because I want to be understood.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. Aside from assisting in removing bias from the reader, working your way through to the conclusion allows it to remain a mystery to the reader, allowing them to enjoy being walked through the process of discovery, rather than just giving them an answer, then doing a "here's how we got there", which (in some cases) becomes less interesting once the answer is known. To respond to Fusiongyro's point that this is…
You and the GP are actually in agreement with the thesis of TFA (though not the specific argument it's making). TL;DR is unnecessary for two reasons: 1. If you're writing a piece in which "the journey" isn't important, then you should put your conclusions up front like a good journalist. 2. If you're writing a considered, long-form piece in which readers' appreciation of your conclusions is path dependent then a TL;D…