• Zak@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I think the idea that forced brevity is an important component of microblogging is mistaken. Low friction to post, minimal formatting, and (optionally) collapsed long posts in feeds all encourage short posts without requiring them.

    It might have served more of a purpose when Twitter launched because people weren’t in the habit of short text posts at the time, and because Twitter supported posting via SMS.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      I think the original point was to facilitate a noisy town square feeling. In that setting, you don’t have several paragraphs to get your point across, you need to condense your thought to a couple sentences or you’ll get lost in the sea of other voices. You bring handouts (links) and something to show (images) and that’s it.

      • Zak@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        There is a chance that I just don’t get microblogging. I’ve always felt that short character limits encourage people to make bad points that resonate emotionally but fall apart when thought through, and to yell at people they disagree with rather than being thoughtful.