What does TL;DR mean?

[TimothyEllis]

What does TL;DR mean?

I keep seeing this more and more, and it makes no sense.

[angela]

Too Long; Didn't Read

[TimothyEllis]

 

Ok, have to remember that. Changes the usefulness of a lot of answers.

[Tom Wood]

It's most often used in response to a long thread, and is the only text in the response, saying, in effect: "Your post is too long so I didn't read it."

It has become so common that people writing long posts will add it to their own post along with a short summary, saying, in effect: "If you don't want to read my entire post, here's a summary."

It's also used as a sarcastic flip off that can be read as: "I don't respect your opinion, so I'm not even going to bother reading anything you post."

[Simon Haynes]

It's been used on Slashdot for years. Usually because people don't bother to read anything more than the summary before they rush to offer their opinion.

[DmGuay]

Am I the only one who sees this as a sad commentary on modern society?? 

[TimothyEllis]

Am I the only one who sees this as a sad commentary on modern society?? 

No. Because it is.

[Simon Haynes]

The thumbnail generation ;-)

[Anarchist]

Am I the only one who sees this as a sad commentary on modern society?? 

I rarely read posts that exceed 100 words. Exceptions include posts by people who deliver a high signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. Amanda). I find most longer posts to be self-indulgent with a low signal-to-noise ratio.

I see several paragraphs and my first thought is...

[angela]

It's blunt, but does teach people they need to edit their rambling stream-of-consciousness outpouring of emotion to be more succinct if they want high quality feedback.

[TimothyEllis]

It's blunt, but does teach people they need to edit their rambling stream-of-consciousness outpouring of emotion to be more succinct if they want high quality feedback.

I mostly see it on Quora, where the rule is never post a paragraph when an essay will suffice.

[LilyBLily]

I hear that most people don't read beyond three paragraphs. When I see posts that are extremely long, or that have lots of bold, underlines, or italics, I'll just read the first few sentences--unless the post is by someone whose opinion I respect. 

I heavily edit what I post. As to the value of what I say, some opinions take space to explain. I don't sell enough books to justify being dogmatic and terse. 

[Dormouse]

What does TL;DR mean?

Simple pointer to people following a thread that this post can be ignored because it will repeat what has gone before.

[angela]

I hear that most people don't read beyond three paragraphs. When I see posts that are extremely long, or that have lots of bold, underlines, or italics, I'll just read the first few sentences--unless the post is by someone whose opinion I respect. 

I heavily edit what I post. As to the value of what I say, some opinions take space to explain. I don't sell enough books to justify being dogmatic and terse.

Hahahah! That's funny. I find the most bitey-bitey people have the least to back it up, anyway.

The only thing I regret about my shorter comments is they can come across more blunt than I meant them to.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Does this mean that we have to re-write our blurbs to make them even shorter, or summarise them into elevator pitches?
Think I'll put elevator pitches above my blurbs 

[TimothyEllis]

Does this mean that we have to re-write our blurbs to make them even shorter, or summarise them into elevator pitches?
Think I'll put elevator pitches above my blurbs 

The question had nothing to do with blurbs.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Does this mean that we have to re-write our blurbs to make them even shorter, or summarise them into elevator pitches?
Think I'll put elevator pitches above my blurbs 

The question had nothing to do with blurbs.

But the inference was that people won't read anything above three paragraphs. If you have a long blurb then readers might skip it entirely. That was my point.

[Dormouse]

But the inference was that people won't read anything above three paragraphs.

Not much point writing books for those peeps

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

But the inference was that people won't read anything above three paragraphs.

Not much point writing books for those peeps

They are probably the same readers who balk at reading long/thick books 

[TimothyEllis]

They are probably the same readers who balk at reading long/thick books

We should be writing long thin books.

Given how many people read on their phones these days.

 

[notthatamanda]

But the inference was that people won't read anything above three paragraphs.

Not much point writing books for those peeps
[/quote]

TL;DR is big on reddit.  People like to write long posts on reddit.  I think it is a way of getting people who won't read your long post to read your comment and upvote you, or comment back.  I don't think we have to worry about writing shorter blurbs.  As for me, I wish I could reply to some emails with that.  And unsubscribe as well, but that's a different issue.

[She-la-te-da]

I see it a lot on Reddit. Some other forums, it depends on the person posting. Some people have a tendency to go on. And I hate spending time trying to read something that ends up being pointless, not relevant, or just stupid.

Also, what's up with not learning how to paragraph? OMG That's an automatic not read right there.

[shadcallister]

In government and military communities you'll also often see "BLUF", "Bottom Line Up Front" (followed by a short paragraph summing up the rest of the document/post/email).

It does make me wonder, if you have low confidence that anyone will want to read the rest of your ramblings... maybe just include the summary and don't bother with the rest.

Yes, online discourse is often very shallow noawadays. But in a world where we have multiple information-firehoses aimed at our faces 24/7, no one can read everything.

[sliderule]

Does this mean that we have to re-write our blurbs to make them even shorter, or summarise them into elevator pitches?
Think I'll put elevator pitches above my blurbs 

The Pencil Conundrum
by slide rule

tl;dr the good guy is framed and has to prove his innocence, the bad guy did it, just look in the pencil sharpener for the evidence.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

In government and military communities you'll also often see "BLUF", "Bottom Line Up Front" (followed by a short paragraph summing up the rest of the document/post/email).

It does make me wonder, if you have low confidence that anyone will want to read the rest of your ramblings... maybe just include the summary and don't bother with the rest.

I used to do investigations/experiments of various sorts and we always had to end the report with - Conclusion and recommendation. This was usually just a few paragraphs.  The person reading the report went straight to the conclusion and then went on to read how the conclusion had been reached.