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Or maybe that's their writing style and the story they're writing? I'm not usually dismissive, but honestly, people are free to write the article as they wish

Or maybe that's their writing style and the story they're writing? I'm not usually dismissive, but honestly, people are free to write the article as they wish to, and we're free to read it or not. It always annoys me when people complain about recipe sites for example "I don't want to know what clothes you were wearing when you cooked it, just give me the measurements". > waste my time as an outlet for their creative writing impulses What gives us the right to demand something from a writer that isn't what they were writing? It might be cynical SEO stuff, or it might just be how they like to write - but there are a lot of commenters here that won't be happy until everything is just AI-produced bullet-points.

techbio 7y ago
If a writer is truly writing for themselves, they are the audience: why post it for the public? Otherwise the audience's IS the only judgement that matters. In the case of this kind of soft/no lede, it comes off as narcissistic and time-wasting, a side-effect of having no editor to determine what is good for the publication, and no cost to cost publish an unlimited stream-of-consciousness. The AI isn't in the "bullet-points" but in the search engine that does not differentiate well between a key term hit above the fold or spread over the broad middle of an article.
- wastedhours 7y ago
  > why post it for the public? Why not? > the only judgement that matters. Not really - you can have multiple target audiences. I.e. you can write for yourself first, and others second - the piece being relevant, with different focuses, for different people. Which is what the majority of these pieces tend to be (if they're not purely SEO gaming) > narcissistic and time-wasting, a side-effect of having no editor to determine what is good for the publication, and no cost to cost publish an unlimited stream-of-consciousness What's the problem with any of that? Is everything in life to be optimised purely for efficiency of delivery? > The AI isn't in the "bullet-points" but in the search engine My point was rather that some people here would rather boil everything down to purely a list of facts, without any element of story or framing.
AmericanChopper 7y ago
> What gives us the right to demand something from a writer that isn't what they were writing? I’m not demanding anything, I’m just making a statement about my personal taste. If I click on an article, it’s because the headline interested me. If I start reading it to find the content is not at all related to that headline, I just feel annoyed and usually close the page.

techbio 7y ago

If a writer is truly writing for themselves, they are the audience: why post it for the public? Otherwise the audience's IS the only judgement that matters. In the case of this kind of soft/no lede, it comes off as narcissistic and time-wasting, a side-effect of having no editor to determine what is good for the publication, and no cost to cost publish an unlimited stream-of-consciousness. The AI isn't in the "bullet-points" but in the search engine that does not differentiate well between a key term hit above the fold or spread over the broad middle of an article.

wastedhours 7y ago
> why post it for the public? Why not? > the only judgement that matters. Not really - you can have multiple target audiences. I.e. you can write for yourself first, and others second - the piece being relevant, with different focuses, for different people. Which is what the majority of these pieces tend to be (if they're not purely SEO gaming) > narcissistic and time-wasting, a side-effect of having no editor to determine what is good for the publication, and no cost to cost publish an unlimited stream-of-consciousness What's the problem with any of that? Is everything in life to be optimised purely for efficiency of delivery? > The AI isn't in the "bullet-points" but in the search engine My point was rather that some people here would rather boil everything down to purely a list of facts, without any element of story or framing.

AmericanChopper 7y ago

> What gives us the right to demand something from a writer that isn't what they were writing? I’m not demanding anything, I’m just making a statement about my personal taste. If I click on an article, it’s because the headline interested me. If I start reading it to find the content is not at all related to that headline, I just feel annoyed and usually close the page.