I'd like to reiterate some super significant information on reading (& writing!) the Internet. I feel like it got lost in the previous post.
Remembering that following Internet-Reader-friendly features below will help and engage readers!
For those of you reading this, I promise I'm trying to incorporate these features into my posts to be more helpful to you!
- KEYWORDS ~ Highlighted keywords (hypertext links served as on form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
- SUBHEADINGS ~ Meaningful subheadings (not “clever” ones)
- BULLETS ~ Bulleted lists
- ONE IDEA PER PARAGRAPH ~ One idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
- INVERTED PYRAMID ~ The inverted pyramid style (i.e., starting with the conclusion)
- HALF THE WORD COUNT ~ Half the word count (or less) of conventional writing.
This information comes from a 1997 study by Morkes and Nielsen concluded that the listed features help Internet readers most.
That's a good list Dana. I notice that the online news stories (and blogs) that I prefer to read do follow those guidelines you posted.
ReplyDeleteAll of these are great and useful. I love bullets and lists. I have noticed that my students like using them, too.
ReplyDeleteI find these text features both interesting and helpful. I am very bad about trying to get the gist of an article whether it is on the internet or in a paper and then I do not complete it.
ReplyDeleteThese texts features are great! I also find myself having a hard time understanding an article on the internet or on paper. But what I do notice myself doing is drawing my attention to key words that are highlighted or hyperlinked. This helps me understand what is important in the text and concentrate on those ideas as I read the article. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other commenters that this is a great list. It reminds me that writing online is a completely different genre of writing, one in which I haven't had a lot of practice with. In fact, comparing my blog to others, I see that my blog is quite bland. I think mine is too academic. It certainly has been a challenge to change my writing style to suit the internet. I wonder if my students, who are my tech savy, have the same problems as I do...
ReplyDeleteI really like this list. It made me realize how important these things really are when you are reading!!
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