@joshwent said:
This is a really weird structure for a news article. Like Patrick kept interrupting himself while he was trying to write.
Just trying some stuff out. I really like the approach Vox has taken with some of its stories -- finding a way to communicate everything really early, and then trying to contextualize extraneous information using headers that prepare the reader for the information that's ahead.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
Apropos of nothing: When I see giant blocks of text on a linked article, I often read the first two sentences and then click the back button
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
Yet if that same article has a bunch of subheads and is organized so I can skim quickly, get the gist, and start over, I usually read it all
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
So, either I'm dumb or, I suspect, that's probably true of a lot of other people too.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
Not the best example but the only one I can recall doing, here's a news article with easily skimmable subheads: [url]http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/173813/Newcomer_hopes_to_disrupt_the_console_market_with_an_open_Android_box.php[/url]
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
If I ever got into video game news again I think I'd probably do a whole lot of that. Factual news story = facts in list form.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
I think the aim of a news article on the internet should be to beam facts into brains as instantly as possible, and that's one way to do it.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
And it's a nice evolution of "reverse pyramid" style in newspapers, where readers opt in to read past the first couple paragraphs for detail
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
Anyway the point is I think I'm pretty smart.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
.@RJTZ right. And note how GAF threads usually bold the important parts of the story for easy skimming. Same concept as lots of subheads.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
I honestly think the world would be better informed if news sites admitted that readers skim now and take advantage instead of fighting it.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
Otherwise those skim-readers' opinions are based just on reading a headline. Anyone who runs a site can tell you how common this is.
@frankcifaldi · Jun 25
Ever notice how Buzzfeed gets a lot of traffic? Maybe it's time to examine their layouts instead of assuming the world is stupid.
@frankcifaldi
Oh, right, I kind of forgot that Vox is doing exactly what I'm talking about. So uh, good job guys. [url]http://www.vox.com/2014/6/25/5841722/surprise-the-supreme-court-does-know-a-lot-about-mobile-phones
Log in to comment