Sometimes it’s hard even to take my own advice. …
As I mentioned yesterday, Poynter and its partners released the Eyetrack III study this week. There’s a lot in it, so here on E-Media Tidbits I’m going to occasionally call out interesting tidbits from the study. (How about one a day?)
One observation we made is worth pulling out: Shorter paragraphs appear to greatly enhance the amount that people read on news website article pages.
Articles presented with short paragraphs (1-2 sentences) received, on average, more than double the eye fixations from our group of test subjects than articles with longer paragraphs. Shorter paragraphs simply encouraged reading; longer paragraphs discouraged it.
Now, this definitely is NOT new. Usability and online writing experts have been telling us about the benefits of short paragraphs for years. Yet most news sites don’t employ them; in a survey of 25 top news sites, we found only seven that routinely edited articles to make paragraphs shorter.
On this weblog, our items are short, but paragraphs typically are long. I’ve broken this item into short paragraphs.
Did you read most of it? Is this a good idea? Frankly, I’m not fond of the look. But perhaps as editor of this weblog, I should listen to the Eyetrack results. What do you think?
Uncategorized
The Case for Shorter Paragraphs
Tags: E-Media Tidbits, WTSP
More News
Topography of a news ecosystem: A first-of-its-kind study diagnoses the local news crisis in a single state
Media scholars at the University of Maryland documented the spread of local news dead spots — and unexpected vibrant areas — in that state.
April 19, 2024
$12 million Global Fact Check Fund opens applications for second year of grants
A partnership between Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network and Google and YouTube continues to support fact-checking initiatives worldwide
April 19, 2024
Opinion | A columnist made a controversial introduction to Caitlin Clark
IndyStar sports columnist Gregg Doyel has been crushed online and accused of being creepy, sexist and worse. He’s since apologized multiple times
April 19, 2024
‘Satanic rituals’ at Taylor Swift shows? That’s false. And experts say the attack isn’t new.
Experts say musicians have been accused of performing satanic rituals for decades
April 19, 2024
How a longtime film critic’s death represents the great dissolve of local film criticism
Bryan VanCampen of The Ithaca Times was an institution in the central New York college town of 32,000. He might have been the last of his kind.
April 18, 2024