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Joseph
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Wall O' Text - It's a wall!

Typically, comments are ordered chronologically, top to bottom, with latest at the bottom (Facebook comments, Twitter conversations, StackExchange comments etc.). Now if a wall of text exists, like 10-20 scrolls long, who would want to continue down and find the rest? We're not talking about the UX of the writer, we're talking about the UX of the readers.

Comments, they are what they are

Comments are like opinions, short somethings about something. Character limits enforce the fact that you are writing a comment, not a post. If you're about to explain a reply worth 20 pages, it would be wise to place it in a separate article, and just link it to the article you are going to comment on. Again, we are thinking of the UX for the readers, not the writer.

UX for the reader???

How much time does a commenter spend writing a comment? Does he even go back to the page he commented? Compare this to the millions of users who are looking for a post, reading the comments for further info. Why waste time and energy on the commenter who never goes back to his own comment, when you can improve the UX for the readers who come in by the millions.

  • As far as I know Facebook imposes a long limit for comments (I think they still have). But notice that long comments get clipped when you read, and only display when you click "Continue" or "Read More"? It's for the reader's UX.

  • StackExchange, aside from collapsing comments, impose a comment voting system. High-scoring comments hidden under the collapsed sections get bumped-out from being hidden. This also means nonsense comments, or lesser-valued comments get hidden.

When will I reach the bottom?

Some sites offer a site map (a bunch of links to the entire website) at the bottom of the page, like the one you find here in StackExchange. It has been a design pattern, and a convention in a sense that, along with the top nav bar, if you get lost, you just scroll to the very top or the very bottom. If you have this very long wall-o-text, when will you reach the bottom and find the nearest teleporter?

As far as I know Facebook imposes a long limit for comments (I think they still have). But notice that comments get clipped when you read, and only display when you click "Continue" or "Read More"? It's for the reader's UX.

Wall O' Text - It's a wall!

Typically, comments are ordered chronologically, top to bottom, with latest at the bottom (Facebook comments, Twitter conversations, StackExchange comments etc.). Now if a wall of text exists, like 10-20 scrolls long, who would want to continue down and find the rest? We're not talking about the UX of the writer, we're talking about the UX of the readers.

Comments, they are what they are

Comments are like opinions, short somethings about something. Character limits enforce the fact that you are writing a comment, not a post. If you're about to explain a reply worth 20 pages, it would be wise to place it in a separate article, and just link it to the article you are going to comment on. Again, we are thinking of the UX for the readers, not the writer.

UX for the reader???

How much time does a commenter spend writing a comment? Does he even go back to the page he commented? Compare this to the millions of users who are looking for a post, reading the comments for further info. Why waste time and energy on the commenter who never goes back to his own comment, when you can improve the UX for the readers who come in by the millions.

When will I reach the bottom?

Some sites offer a site map (a bunch of links to the entire website) at the bottom of the page, like the one you find here in StackExchange. It has been a design pattern, and a convention in a sense that, along with the top nav bar, if you get lost, you just scroll to the very top or the very bottom. If you have this very long wall-o-text, when will you reach the bottom and find the nearest teleporter?

As far as I know Facebook imposes a long limit for comments (I think they still have). But notice that comments get clipped when you read, and only display when you click "Continue" or "Read More"? It's for the reader's UX.

Wall O' Text - It's a wall!

Typically, comments are ordered chronologically, top to bottom, with latest at the bottom (Facebook comments, Twitter conversations, StackExchange comments etc.). Now if a wall of text exists, like 10-20 scrolls long, who would want to continue down and find the rest? We're not talking about the UX of the writer, we're talking about the UX of the readers.

Comments, they are what they are

Comments are like opinions, short somethings about something. Character limits enforce the fact that you are writing a comment, not a post. If you're about to explain a reply worth 20 pages, it would be wise to place it in a separate article, and just link it to the article you are going to comment on. Again, we are thinking of the UX for the readers, not the writer.

UX for the reader???

How much time does a commenter spend writing a comment? Does he even go back to the page he commented? Compare this to the millions of users who are looking for a post, reading the comments for further info. Why waste time and energy on the commenter who never goes back to his own comment, when you can improve the UX for the readers who come in by the millions.

  • As far as I know Facebook imposes a long limit for comments (I think they still have). But notice that long comments get clipped when you read, and only display when you click "Continue" or "Read More"? It's for the reader's UX.

  • StackExchange, aside from collapsing comments, impose a comment voting system. High-scoring comments hidden under the collapsed sections get bumped-out from being hidden. This also means nonsense comments, or lesser-valued comments get hidden.

When will I reach the bottom?

Some sites offer a site map (a bunch of links to the entire website) at the bottom of the page, like the one you find here in StackExchange. It has been a design pattern, and a convention in a sense that, along with the top nav bar, if you get lost, you just scroll to the very top or the very bottom. If you have this very long wall-o-text, when will you reach the bottom and find the nearest teleporter?

Source Link
Joseph
  • 2k
  • 3
  • 15
  • 23

Wall O' Text - It's a wall!

Typically, comments are ordered chronologically, top to bottom, with latest at the bottom (Facebook comments, Twitter conversations, StackExchange comments etc.). Now if a wall of text exists, like 10-20 scrolls long, who would want to continue down and find the rest? We're not talking about the UX of the writer, we're talking about the UX of the readers.

Comments, they are what they are

Comments are like opinions, short somethings about something. Character limits enforce the fact that you are writing a comment, not a post. If you're about to explain a reply worth 20 pages, it would be wise to place it in a separate article, and just link it to the article you are going to comment on. Again, we are thinking of the UX for the readers, not the writer.

UX for the reader???

How much time does a commenter spend writing a comment? Does he even go back to the page he commented? Compare this to the millions of users who are looking for a post, reading the comments for further info. Why waste time and energy on the commenter who never goes back to his own comment, when you can improve the UX for the readers who come in by the millions.

When will I reach the bottom?

Some sites offer a site map (a bunch of links to the entire website) at the bottom of the page, like the one you find here in StackExchange. It has been a design pattern, and a convention in a sense that, along with the top nav bar, if you get lost, you just scroll to the very top or the very bottom. If you have this very long wall-o-text, when will you reach the bottom and find the nearest teleporter?

As far as I know Facebook imposes a long limit for comments (I think they still have). But notice that comments get clipped when you read, and only display when you click "Continue" or "Read More"? It's for the reader's UX.