How long do you think something should be before it is no longer a quick take and should instead be a top level post? Or is it not about the length? Maybe it’s about the amount of research and editing that goes into it?
I don’t know the exact cutoff, but I think a decent number of quick takes should just be posts. We already have the Personal Blog tag and I just rely on the moderators deciding if something should be promoted to the frontpage.
I think the question of whether something belongs in shortform vs. a post is separate from whether it’s a good post. I was just assuming mods wouldn’t promote something they think is too niche or undeveloped. The Personal Blogpost tag specifically calls out “niche topics” and “personal ramblings”.
I think I agree. I’m imagining short takes fill the role of quick, twitter like back and forth of idea snippits, and general questions like the one I just posed, but it seems like you can write entire article length content in them which makes me wonder what different people think the distinction should be.
Giving things a title is in my experience a very difficult process and changes the structure of an essay from a conversational open-ended style to a more “I know where I want the reader to go” situation. Both have their place, but they do feel quite different.
Oh, that’s a really interesting answer, like the difference is the difference between a named and anonymous function. I do think there is a kind of important semiotic power in naming things, so I can understand wanting to avoid that, but I also feel pretty comfortable writing a post and then slapping a random name on it based on how the vibe turned out. This is what I just did with Ball+Gravity has a “Downhill” Preference. It started as a quick take, but then became a long take, so I copied and pasted it into a post and gave it a name. That’s also what inspired this question.
How long do you think something should be before it is no longer a quick take and should instead be a top level post? Or is it not about the length? Maybe it’s about the amount of research and editing that goes into it?
I don’t know the exact cutoff, but I think a decent number of quick takes should just be posts. We already have the Personal Blog tag and I just rely on the moderators deciding if something should be promoted to the frontpage.
(Periodic reminder that frontpaging is not about quality)
I think the question of whether something belongs in shortform vs. a post is separate from whether it’s a good post. I was just assuming mods wouldn’t promote something they think is too niche or undeveloped. The Personal Blogpost tag specifically calls out “niche topics” and “personal ramblings”.
The “timeless” focus is cool to know about. It makes sense.
I think I agree. I’m imagining short takes fill the role of quick, twitter like back and forth of idea snippits, and general questions like the one I just posed, but it seems like you can write entire article length content in them which makes me wonder what different people think the distinction should be.
Giving things a title is in my experience a very difficult process and changes the structure of an essay from a conversational open-ended style to a more “I know where I want the reader to go” situation. Both have their place, but they do feel quite different.
Oh, that’s a really interesting answer, like the difference is the difference between a named and anonymous function. I do think there is a kind of important semiotic power in naming things, so I can understand wanting to avoid that, but I also feel pretty comfortable writing a post and then slapping a random name on it based on how the vibe turned out. This is what I just did with Ball+Gravity has a “Downhill” Preference. It started as a quick take, but then became a long take, so I copied and pasted it into a post and gave it a name. That’s also what inspired this question.