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Comment by abhshkdz | Hacker News Reader

More context on this: https://twitter.com/jslaternyc/status/1144483586042548225

why do people tweet like this? It is impossible to follow. Like.. just write an article or a blog post instead. :/

Because people don't click on links on twitter as often as they bother to read a tweet thread.

But also, I actually like this form of communication. By the nature of the medium (one thought per tweet), you are forced to discard all superfluous details. Instead each tweet/thought must be a strong point. This is compared to a blog, where the only thing holding you back from adding fluff is your own intellectual discipline.

Can you explain why you find this impossible/discipline to follow?

Well, not all discourse needs to happen on twitter.

Sure, it is nice when there is something you can actually convey in just a few sentences but I have a hard time reading this.

It is hard to follow because my reading gets interrupted, and I need to focus on where I am instead of what information I am receiving. I donno. I just think it's hard and it's very annoying so I'm rather inclined to stop reading because honestly I don't care enough to make the hassle worth it.

A tweet thread is also often meant to be chewed upon. Because minimal details are provided with the expectation that the reader will be able to fill in some of the obvious blanks with a little thought. So I usually read these threads a tweet at a time, wondering on the implications of each statement (a lot of times I can't think of any).

But whatever works for you.

I rarely read tweet threads, mainly because I am rarely on twitter but also because there is often little reason to. Most of the threads is simply just angry people who disagree or people that agree and want to spread the word.

There is a serious disconnect between medium and message when people find it necessary to manually number every message, and stoop to doing so on a regular basis. You might still find it readable but the absurdity of that behavior should at least be a glaring red flag. Twitter's layout is designed around the assumption that discrete posts will be distinct thoughts or status updates, but this breaks when people force even a paragraph through. I find it grossly unreadable to sift through so much whitespace, redundant usernames, redundant time stamps, numerous like and share icons, etc. that interrupt the text when it's broken into tiny chunks in this manner--I can read it, but I hate doing so.

IMO this is both Twitter's fault for existing, since the prevalence of this kind of posting seems to indicate that microblogging is a failed concept, and the userbase's for insisting on using it for content which is obviously unsuitable. Obviously a lot of people are willing to put up with this format but I see it as a huge mess and I avoid Twitter links whenever possible.

Thanks for this tweet link I was going to forward this in WhatsApp to my family but decided not to after reading these tweets.

so it could be worse? i doubt they would have extrapolated in a non-linear fashion

I really don't think Twitter is the correct platform for long-form discussions and writeups. It's so disjointed to try and read through that.

Is it really that hard to scroll down?

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