2 ms·

These days you mostly see "above the fold" used to refer to website content, but it originated from the way newspapers would cram their top headlines into the u

by floren 3y ago

These days you mostly see "above the fold" used to refer to website content, but it originated from the way newspapers would cram their top headlines into the upper half of the front page, so it would be visible at a glance in a newspaper machine or on a newsstand. If the headlines (or the local top stories in the "ears" of the front page) grabbed you, you dropped your nickel/dime/quarter and got the paper. If you can feel confident based on headlines that yes, there's at least a few things in today's NYT that will interest you, it seems like paying $1 to get a PDF or whatever makes sense.

graypegg 3y ago
Oh! I had no idea that was the etymology. Learned something today. Thanks! I think digital needs to fight a little harder than just headlines and above-the-fold style intros. I think including a short conclusion is valuable. Also valuable to write this free micro-article separately, with the intention of being a complete thought. It means people could post something here or other social media, and the unpaid state would actually communicate something. That would make me feel better about paying, since it doesn’t feel like I’m being fished. The faded out text and incomplete sentences do make me feel that.
- bitbckt 3y ago
  Entomology is the study of insects. You mean etymology. :)
  - graypegg 3y ago
    Caught it within the edit grace period, thanks!
- floren 3y ago
  I hate the faded out text too, but I think it's hard to strike a balance where your conclusion is complete enough to tell the reader what the story is about, without also just giving away all the important information, while also not just being clickbait. Consider the inverted pyramid theory, which says that your news story should begin with the absolute most essential info (who what where when why and how) in basically the first paragraph. This allows readers to skim and still get the essentials; it also makes it easy for editors to trim stories as necessary. Your conclusion/summary is that first paragraph -- and for a lot of people, that's all they need to read.

by floren 3y ago

graypegg 3y ago

Oh! I had no idea that was the etymology. Learned something today. Thanks! I think digital needs to fight a little harder than just headlines and above-the-fold style intros. I think including a short conclusion is valuable. Also valuable to write this free micro-article separately, with the intention of being a complete thought. It means people could post something here or other social media, and the unpaid state would actually communicate something. That would make me feel better about paying, since it doesn’t feel like I’m being fished. The faded out text and incomplete sentences do make me feel that.

bitbckt 3y ago
Entomology is the study of insects. You mean etymology. :)
- graypegg 3y ago
  Caught it within the edit grace period, thanks!
floren 3y ago
I hate the faded out text too, but I think it's hard to strike a balance where your conclusion is complete enough to tell the reader what the story is about, without also just giving away all the important information, while also not just being clickbait. Consider the inverted pyramid theory, which says that your news story should begin with the absolute most essential info (who what where when why and how) in basically the first paragraph. This allows readers to skim and still get the essentials; it also makes it easy for editors to trim stories as necessary. Your conclusion/summary is that first paragraph -- and for a lot of people, that's all they need to read.