Short Articles VS Long Articles

Kakashi2020 Level 1

August 29, 2018, 3:59 pm

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Which to you is more effective Short Articles or Long Articles?

In my opinion Short Articles are more direct and easy to read. It also gets more views and a complete reading than long articles.

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rlpzbeermoney

rlpzbeermoney

Short articles for me wins this. No question. Whenever I see a long article I tend to start skimming it immediately. The size of the article sometimes even turns me off from reading it in it's entirety. I want to get the information as fast as possible. I don't want to waste time reading an exposition or a long paragraph because I get to what I came to read about.

8 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Precisely my point getting the important stuff as quickly as possible is what really matters and reading very long articles with a lot of fillers is a huge turnoff.

8 years ago

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rlpzbeermoney

rlpzbeermoney

A trick I do in long articles is to just read the first and last paragraphs. They contain the main problem of the article as well as the conclusion to it all. Believe it or not, that was how school wanted students to write their essays.

8 years ago

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cmoneyspinner

cmoneyspinner

Yes. You and I are both the same in that respect. I immediately start skimming. Indeed, I used to work for the federal government and wrote extensively. Writing detailed reports that resulted in numerous pages were part of the job. But preparing brief summaries for executive review was also part of my job. Upper management does not want to nor do they have the time to read through the hundreds of detailed reports that come across their desks every day. My job actually involved summarizing the main significant points of those various reports. If something in the summary required further explanation, then Mr. or Ms. Executive Manager had the detailed report to refer to for more information.

8 years ago

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nearxxfar

nearxxfar

I agree, the readers tends to get bored with a ling article. They don't wantvto finish reading ling articles because the tnoughts are just circling around. Short articles are very effective and can easily generates viewers that do not want to read a long paragraphs. Just make it short and simple.

8 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

I agree with you Short article is more effective than long articles. Long articles may be decorative in words but short articles are direct to the point.

8 years ago

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cmoneyspinner

cmoneyspinner

Short ... however with an explanation. That depends on the topic being discussed. Some things cannot be elaborated upon in 3 to 5 quick paragraphs. But even if the article is lengthy and detailed, presenting a short summary of the article's highlights is usually very much appreciated by the reader.

8 years ago

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Zelmontero

Zelmontero

Yes, I think it would depend on the topic. Some topics may really be explained longer. I think it is more important to be accurate and straight forward in writing the article.

8 years ago

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blackmist

blackmist

I agree, not all article can be explain in just a short paragraphs. I have read some articles that are long but it is not boring because it catches my attention, even thought it is long I still manage to finish it until the last sentence. Articles length are base on the topic itself, some are long and some are short.

8 years ago

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Youngshark

Youngshark

To me its the wording which matters. It does not really matter how long the article is if the author has introduced it well in an inviting manner then I do not mind reading it. They also need to make use of various writting tactics to sweeten their content all through. A boring short piece to me is as boring as a long one.

8 years ago

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anchoreztin

anchoreztin

This is very true but for me it depends on the purposed of the article. For example, I am reading news article, I prefer it to be short and straight to the point. News articles are meant to inform and are usually read in haste or at least at a fast phase. If it is too long and composed of flowery words, I will not consider wasting my time for it.
Another example is if I want to read about an article that is informative or to entertain, I would prefer it to be artistically made and not boring. I will not mind if it is long as long as I am entertained.

8 years ago

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Youngshark

Youngshark

On the news pieces I always love to get the ones which post the most important details first and do not struggle with too much fluff. They should first offer all that I need to know about the piece amongst the first paragraphs. That way I would decide if I want to read even before ai reach the third paragraph since I know what important details are contained. s

8 years ago

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anchoreztin

anchoreztin

I was able to take a short course on journalism. But its not that serious. Just an overview. In journalism, it is really a rule that you must write the 5W'sH of the news at the first paragraph so you get the really important details about the news. Also, newswriting is a very formal type of writing. A journalist should always avoid using informal words and adding fluff to their content to avoid misleading content. I appreciate writers who are really good in newswriting. I am more inclined to creative writing or freestyle writing. That is why I really do not have preference if I like short or long articles because it depends on the purpose of the article.

8 years ago

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Chinet23

Chinet23

I have taken a short course in journalism too. It's where I learned about the inverted pyramid meaning the important facts go first followed by supporting information. The first paragraph is called the lead paragraph which contains the meat of the news so you don't have to read the entire article.
I also do not have any preference whether it's long or short as long as it's well written and appropriate to the topic.

8 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

I prefer to read short articles. Sometimes long articles are no longer read because its too long. Short articles does not demand longer time for the readers to read. If you are always busy, you may no longer have the time to read long articles. What's important is the point of the article. Unless you are made to do long articles in school. You really have to do it if its required.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

For search engines' sake, long articles are better. Make subtitles to divide them into many short postsfor eadier reading.

8 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

Thanks for reading my comment. Thanks also for replying on it. I agree with you for search engine's sake long articles are much better. I appreciate your time of replying to my comment.

8 years ago

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Chinet23

Chinet23

For me, it depends on the topic. Typically short articles are easier to read and it does take great skills to be able to discuss a topic with few words. But there are really some topics that needs thorough explanation. It depends on how was written. If the important facts or things are covered and at the same time the interest of the readers was sustained.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

Short articles may be good and easier to read but are not good for monetization ans for sesrch engines. Good SEO content should be long. More than 1500 words may be better.

8 years ago

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Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh

To be honest, both articles have some pros and cons. It depends into the approach of the writer to tempt the reader to continue in reading the article. Also the topic is also a main concern if a short or long article will gonna be effective because some topics should be condensed and some should not. Overall depends into the execution of the proper words.

8 years ago

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esteban123

esteban123

For me I prefer the short articles because it is more precise and convenient for me. Short articles are more attractive since it will not take so long when you read it, unlike in the long articles that it may be time consuming to have. The good thing in short articles is that they are direct to the point and we'll defined.

8 years ago

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Zelmontero

Zelmontero

Personally, I would like to read shorter articles. I like it because it easier to read and not time consuming. It would be also because the idea would be straight to the point.

8 years ago

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anchoreztin

anchoreztin

I prefer short articles than longer one. Especially in news and infomative articles. I like to read articles that are direct to the point and will not waste my time for crappy content and misleading title.

8 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

Short article is what I prefer. I like to read short article over long article. Sometimes my eyes are soaring and I slept while reading a long article. You can able to read more if the article is short.

8 years ago

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Youngshark

Youngshark

There are also cases when you are so tired and lazy even to read. When you come across a lengthy article it makes you feel like you will die reading the entirety of it. At such periods the best alternatives are the shorter articles where you can get the gist of the story within minutes and after reading only a few lines.

8 years ago

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blackmist

blackmist

It depends on the article itself and also how it is written. Short articles are not boring because it don't require more time to read. But that doesn't mean that long articles are boring. If the topic is somewhat interesting to read then I'm sure that even thought it is long many will still have that excitement to read it. For me it's not about how long or short the article is but what's important is the content.

8 years ago

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Chinet23

Chinet23

I also think that the style of writing or how it was presented factors in. I prefer short articles because of the less time it requires. With long articles though, what I prefer is that it is broken down strategically with proper subheadings or keywords so that I can quickly glance through it and easier to read. This will also lead you to focus on the information that you really need.

8 years ago

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superlicca

superlicca

Honestly, I prefer to read short articles. Reading long articles is so tiring. I feel like wasting a lot of time for a content that can be explained in brief statements. As long as the articles are short and informative, this is worth reading.

8 years ago

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Barida

Barida

Long articles are always tiring to read and the reason is because you are going to spend a whole lot of time trying to discover what the article is really talking about. For me, I can read both as long as the writer did a wonderful job on them.

8 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

Of course, I would choose long articles because it has complete thoughts, and it is also attractive for the readers.

8 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

When writing a blog or article, my rule of thumb regarding the length is 2 pages to 5 pages of word processor. An article less than 2 pages is considered short and an article with more than 5 pages is considered long. The problem with long articles is the nature of internet users that generally they have short attention span. Even I do not read long articles because it takes a lot of my time whereas I can read more articles in that given period.

8 years ago

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romyter013

romyter013

Long article or short one, they are both fine with me as long everything you need from that topic can be read from those pages. But I usually make short articles. Maybe because I am not really so good with introduction at all but always direct to the point of what I what my readers know about my topic. Just naturally, simple, straight to the point and short - that's how I do it.

8 years ago

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superlicca

superlicca

Whatever the topic is, I always prefer to read short articles. I believe that great articles don't require numerous words to relay its message. As long as the writer has a good choice of words, everyone can easily understand the content and the article can give a big impact to the readers.

8 years ago

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mdayrit

mdayrit

I prefer to write short but informative articles. This is because not all readers have good attention and patience to read a long one. Just a glance of how long the article is, it can easily drive readers away. If there is a need to explain a lot in the article, just make it concise as possible without losing important information.

8 years ago

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CyrusWahome

CyrusWahome

I prefer writing and reading short articles over long ones. Short articles are better because they are easy to read and understand. You will find that visitors on a blog or site often just scan through articles instead of reading the whole content. Writing long articles means that clients will not even have enough time to go through the whole thing. In cases where you need to reach people to pitch an idea or make a sale, it is good to always good to keep the details as short as possible.

8 years ago

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beerthooyah

beerthooyah

Short article makes it easy to read, straight to the point and quick to understand.Readers of these kind of articles only want to consume thier needed data and dont want to waste time reading long articles. Internet users specially, reads only what they need to know or what only entertains them. As writer, we should be all adept with all kinds of articles but what we need to consider are what kind of a reader the people who are reading our article.

8 years ago

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mitan143

mitan143

Honestly, I'm not fond of long articles. Yes, I'm one of those readers who get easily bored to a very long articles especially if the topic is something that does not really need to be that long. I agree, if you really want to gain more readers then you should straight to the point of your topic. Putting too much unnecessary information will ruin your article. Personally I only work on short articles as possible as I can. But sometimes it depends to the topic if you need to elaborate it more for better understanding and clarification, for example articles that talk about politics.

8 years ago

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mdayrit

mdayrit

When it comes to reading, I would also go first with short articles. This is especially when I need to get information fast and do not have the time to read long. But, there are days that I enjoy reading long articles. It just depends on the quality and topic of the content. If it is something that I am interested and can relate then it really doesn't matter how long the article is. I would make time to read it by parts until I finish it.

8 years ago

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EfficientNinja

EfficientNinja

I believe the general public would prefer short articles. Most of us have short attention spans and could only give attention and focus to the article they're reading for a very short amount of time. I also like short articles when reading summaries of some subjects. If I wanted to go deeper because I got interested in the summary I just read, I go and find myself a more complete article or a book about the topic. So for me, short and long articles go hand-in-hand.

8 years ago

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coolavender

coolavender

It depends on the subject, purpose, and target readers of the article. Some subjects can be explained in a short article but some topics need a longer discussion to be meaningful to the readers. Long articles need not be hard or boring to read if the writer knows how to split ideas into paragraphs and break the wall of text using subtitles. A writer can also include a short recap at the end of the article. As a reader, I prefer long articles because they provide more information that can be useful while short articles are like movie trailers or teasers. However, long articles that are fluffy and phony turn me off.

8 years ago

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bachiekins

bachiekins

I believe, it will be depending on the purpose of the article. If the writer is stating a fact - specially controversial ones, then they would need supporting details. The more the better to make a solid point. Although, I do truly appreciate a short article that are fully inform and straight to the point.

The catch for long articles is how to keep the readers to finish the whole thing and not just skim over it. When the writer is able to really get a hold of me, I would love to read a long article. But then again, a short article that answer most of my question, is also worth it.

8 years ago

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Aeolos

Aeolos

A short article would be enough for me to become influenced by a writer. I admired a writer when he or she can put her thoughts on a very small number of words that convey what his or her message. It is astounding when the writer can offer good information which elaborately well explained without going as much as 10 pages for a tidbits of information. As long as it is simple,short and straightforward, that is all I need.

8 years ago

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ajahcuizon

ajahcuizon

I also prefer short articles than the longer ones. Whenever I come across a long article, I usually take a step back and choose another article to read. I don't know if I'm just lazy or what but I could say that reading short articles are way better than longer ones. But the advantage of longer articles is that most of them have tons of information that you could learn.

8 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

Long article of course, it has the complete thought. Tho it requires a lot of time to finish each article. Its still worth to read it than the short ones.

8 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

The only problem with long articles is that there is always increased chance of drifting off topic when you tend to write too much. I have seen so many articles that suffered such bane as a result of the writer trying to write too much to cover the entire topic. It's a lot better to keep it average and concise.

8 years ago

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VintageRose

VintageRose

I... This is a complicated question because article length is something that depends on your purpose, your target audience, and your content.

If we're talking about articles written with the purpose of gathering views, becoming viral and catching your reader's attention, then the optimal length is between 500-1500 words, so a short length is ideal. Otherwise, you risk your audience getting bored and simply ditching your article for something much more dynamic. However, if we're talking about research, investigation and technical articles, then an extensive length is almost a must; you have to explore a topic throughout, so you can't be concerned about summarizing your knowledge into as few words as possible.

Regardless, I think the key factor in article writing is to make sure you don't have a HUGE, boring block of text; have dynamic paragraphs, short sentences and, if possible, an image or two. That's going to make a difference, for sure.

8 years ago

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Jeane

Jeane

According to some articles I've seen on SEO blogs, you'll probably get better rankings in the SERPs if you regularly post longer content. The assumption is that longer articles will be more valuable to readers than shorter ones which may not fully provide information that is being sought by site visitors.

As it has already been said, the subject being dealt with should determine how long an article should be. No matter what it's length is, as long as it achieves whatever (purpose) it is originally created for, then that is the right length (regardless of whether it is a short or long article).

8 years ago

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edencaga

edencaga

I prefer short article with precise detail. Sometimes it's kind of boring for me reading article with so much details so as much as possible its more precisely define and understandable. Yes long articles sometimes is big turn off as you have to read every details for you to understand even those that are not that important in article.

8 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Well, everything depends on what you are writing on. If it's a topic that is deep and vast, then there is no way of making the article to be short. The reason for this is that that short article won't cover all the subsections needed to be discussed in the article. But if it's a snappy topic, then a short article would be perfect in order to avoid writing off topic.

8 years ago

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Jeane

Jeane

Well, everything depends on what you are writing on. If it's a topic that is deep and vast, then there is no way of making the article to be short

You could split it up into two or more articles. The title could indicate that's part 1 or part 2 or part 3 depending on how many sections it is divided into. This has to be done on some sites where visitors have short attention spans or generally do not spend too much time reading any one article.

This is why it is important to know your target audience well so you can all the time create either long or short articles.

8 years ago

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superlicca

superlicca

Sometimes, long article consists of content that makes you try to figure out what the article is all about. I am not referring to all articles since this will also depend on the writer if he does a good job in writing. But some long article can be also read in a form of a short article as long as the writer is direct to the point and uses some appropriate words.

8 years ago

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limberg

limberg

How many paragraphs do you consider an article to be short or long?

Well, anyways, when I'm browsing through Facebook and see an article that interests me, I want it to be short but meaningful. I browse through Facebook to be entertained for short bursts. But if I'm looking for information, I want something that is long and well written.

When I'm writing an article, I make sure that it is long since longer articles make a lot more impact on search engines than short articles.

8 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

I do agree that if it's a properly written article on a topic that can't be discussed briefly then you really need to write a long article.

But if it's boring and created / spun just to be long or for SEO purposes but lacks relevance or depth, then I think it has a very weak purpose because it simply won't be read.

8 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

A lot of people are spinning long articles but if you read between the lines you would notice that it's filled with fillers. While some makes use of extended descriptions just to make it longer.

8 years ago

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jpk0007

jpk0007

Yes broadly I agree with the view that short articles are more popular than the long ones. I think it depends more on the subject of the article. There are some subjects where a detailed explanation is very essential, you can't be able to write a short article in such a case

A short article which is written very skilfully and which explains most of the important points required will always be the preferred choice.

8 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

Not everybody can read long articles and stay focused for a long time. But, definitely, everybody can read and understand short articles. Majority of us want to read something that is direct to the point and that is not burdensome to read. Anyway, I always admire people who have deep interest in long articles, whatever topics those are.

8 years ago

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DISTEFANO115

DISTEFANO115

Short articles are the way to go, most people aren't interested in long articles because they are rather busy or lazy. Long articles take time to understand while short ones are straight to the point. A lot of articles posted on social media and they contain lots of unnecessary content.

8 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

I guess long article can be more informative than the short ones because it has complete thoughts and also it's good to read long articles so that you can have more information to add in your mind.

8 years ago

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Gandalf

Gandalf

Short articles are better for a wider audience, but longer articles are better for SEO. I try to find a happy medium, but the formatting is more important. Even for a short article, if there are few paragraphs then people are less likely to read to the end.

With a longer article, if it has sub headings and is formatted well, then people will read it. Breaking it up with quotes, images, and sub headings helps make it look less long and the reader will stay on the page because they don't feel daunted by the length.

8 years ago

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emiaj55

emiaj55

Short articles are great for conveying facts or explaining ideas. They are straight forward, direct to the point and concise so they won't be time consuming to read.

Long articles are better used in artistically presenting a thought or emotion. It is aptly used for literary pieces. Long sentences may be used in poetic representation of feelings and the span of paragraphs may be used in suspense.

Choosing between the two based on your needs and audience is a wise choice.

8 years ago

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esteban123

esteban123

I really prefer the short articles because most of the time I get easily feel bored whenever I am reading some articles especially if the topic is not one of my interest. I can save more time from reading and can easily arrive at a conclusion which is one of the most interesting part when reading an article.

8 years ago

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