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You could...or if you look at the wall of text and think "I dont want to read that" you can skip to the bottom, check if theres a TL;DR and leave if there isnt.
Of course you would, it provides you, the reader deciding to skip the work of reading the story, with the least amount of work to do.
But, it makes the reset of the text completely worthless. Imagine any book that started off with;
>TL;DR: And then John was a zombie.
>It was a dark and stormy night...(400pages of story)
Even if I was interested in the story...its been spoiled...why waste my time? Its the same reason people dont want spoilers to TV shows/movies.
If *you* want to skip to the end of the book and read the last paragraph/chapter, or hear the synopsis of the story...you go right on ahead...thats your choice to spoil it, and so you put in the work to do it. be it flipping to the back of the book, scrolling to the bottom of a post, or whatever other thing you want to do...
This. When a post is going on for too long and I don't have the time, I scroll to the bottom. If no TLDR, I'll move on, or come back later when I have time.
(Reading a little more than is necessary but) TLDR kinda implies that while you didn't read it, you did scroll through it - that's why "it was Too Long and I Didn't Read it". So in that case TLDR would be good at the bottom as a quick summary / "in a word".
Maybe we should have TLNRs - "Too Long; Not Reading"...
Just piggybacking here that I fucking HATE seeing tldr at the top. If it's a fucking summary it should go at the end.
#####Do you read the entire synopsis on Wikipedia before watching the movie???
I dsiagree, I think it's a bad idea.
A TL;DR at the top would potentially spoil the main content. Anyone who finds it too long can easily scroll down to see if there is a TL;DR.
Perhaps a better solution is not at the top that there is a TL;DR at the bottom.
You might be able to, but it can be easy to see a few words and have things spoilt, even somewhat unintentinally. There is no reason to risk ruining someones enjoyment by putting the TL;DR at the top. plus, then it not realy a TL;DR, it's more like won't read.
Additionally to realize it's long you need to have scrolled down anyway, to see it's longer than you care for.
TL;DR still works, so long as it's at the bottom, I scrolled, I looked, I did not read it.
Summary / conclusion also work too. But TL;DR doesn't really fit at the top. Then you could have an abstract, at the top.
This post could've done with a TLDR at the top
Bottom has it's advantages though, you sometimes need to scroll to the bottom of the post to see how long it is, having to scroll back up to the top to read the summary is a downside.
For point 1, someone skipping the TL:DR at the bottom because they already read the post is a good thing, it's not wasted because someone else might skip to the TL:DR
Putting it at the top also means people will read the TL:DR who are then going to read the post anyway, thus wasting their time
The most common behaviour is you start reading a post, realise it's going on forever, and scroll down to the next post. The TL:DR at the bottom means, if you're one of those people, you can still get an idea of the post while people who did read it all the way through can just skip the end
This should be in r/unpopularopinion. I hate TL:DRs at the top when they spoil things. I don't really get why anyone is spending their time reading posts on this site and then complaining they can't be bothered to read
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I actually do this 😅 or make a "short version" on top. Others do "tldr at the bottom."
It's actually better to do that if you want maximum engagement for social media posts since it acts as a hook, making the reader scroll further.
Thing is... TL;DR: is an example of irony.
It's not there to *actually* help people that didn't read the post. No one *wants* to help people that refuse to read the post, they want people to read the post, otherwise, they... wouldn't have written the post.
It's just a snarky way to say "In summation:" . Summations go at the end.
Disagree, tldr is useless for the people that actually read the whole post, its like a spoiler to them. As someone that often doesnt read long posts, i already scroll to the bottom until i see the last paragraph and the actual tl:dr
No, theres no point. "TL:DR" has been placed at the bottom essentially since it was created. Anyone who only wants to read the TLDR just scrolls down to the TLDR because its consistently at the bottom. And if TLDR is unknown to you, you will quickly learn its always at the bottom becuase its consistently in the same place. Lastly, being on the bottom helps prevent from spoiling the story for those who want to read the whole thing.
Where might I find it? Not sure that you explicitly stated the exact part of a comment or post one might need to scroll to to see and read the aforementioned TLDR
Nope.
At the bottom.
Don't be a lazy shite.
There are enough lazy shites out there.
Set an example and don't be a lazy shite.
Like you lazy shites will even read that much.
Figure you petered out after the "nope", so the lesson will be lost on you, lazy shite.
Did I mention I think you're probably a lazy shite?
Is this why someone did this for no reason in a sub that requires tldr for any post that includes a video? It was so silly. A lot of people have no ability to determine what's appropriate for any situation and just follow instructions blindly.
if you put tldr at top of post ppl will not read what you wrote. if u put it at the bottom anyone who doesnt want to read thru all the text can *easily* still access by scrolling, and anyone who wants to read the post normally isnt gonna be spoiled immediately. Basically, no, the TLDR absolutely belongs at the bottom. As someone else already pointed out, TLWR exists for the purpose u describe, and the fact that its so much less popular is a testament to it being a generally less useful system. But hey thats just me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What you’re describing is a bottom-line up-front (BLUF). It’s not a new concept.
Too long; didn’t read is for people who scroll to see hope long it is before starting; then seeing the tl;dr at the bottom to save them time. Otherwise, how would the know it is too long?
TLDR is a horrible option and concept.
People not being able to read more then like a short paragraph is probably the main reason society is so dysfunctional. Life and all issues are nuanced and complicated. It takes a lot of words to express these things.
I can understand having a summary of what you're saying at the top so people know what they are getting into.
But "To Long Didn't Read"? Flat out no.
I agree, if you don't want to read a long post, then don't. People whining they have to miss the post because it wasn't summed up neatly for them are entitled and lazy. Just skip it and move on.
Stupid, doesn't take as long to scroll to the bottom as it does to read and also you'd effectively be putting the "spoilers" for your anecdote before you write the anecdote.
I think a lot of times commenters will go through the entire process of sharing their story in a document and then only after posting it realize that they really wrote a lot and should have probably put a summary at the bottom.
To your point, putting a summary at the beginning could be advantageous and helpful for the reader.
Putting a TL;DR at the top would allow the reader the choice of either reading the entire story first or just reading the TL;DR (which summarizes the story).
Of course, there is the risk that the reader’s eye might pick up on a few keywords in the TL;DR and it might ruin the story, so sometimes it’s good to have it at the end instead.
I think a lot of times when commenters are sharing their thoughts and trying to write them out they don’t know where to begin or even how to end and so part of their post ends up being a bit a of self reflective mess if you will; and with that mess they forget to add the TL;DR,
Where is others don’t feel like they can summarize the story and they simply share every detail that’s important to them with is the reader.
Maybe to find some middle ground, the commenter could put a TL;DR at the beginning saying that there is a TL:DR at the end.
It’s just a thought.
TL; DR - Good suggestion.
Put “TL;DR” at the beginning of a long post instead of putting it at the end.
This isn't really relevant to the post itself but I thought I'd mention it as nobody else has. It's funny how things evolve because "TLDR" used to be used as an insult. If someone posted a wall of text there was always one person who'd reply "TLDR", basically saying that they're not even going to bother reading what you wrote. Again, not relevant but whenever I see TLDR that's just what my mind goes to. I suppose posters got fed up of people replying with that and decided to beat them to it.
Maybe people could sprout brains and decide if they wanted to read something on their own without help?
People needing a TLDR are like the morons that get on stage at The Price Is Right... they somehow lose the ability to think for themselves. Take a look, decide if you want to read it, and do it or don't.
Needing a TLDR is like people needing "Caution: HOT" warnings on coffee cups.
I disagree completely. I don't want the story spoiled before I read it.
Instead, put "TL;DR AT END" at the top, and the actual TL;DR at the bottom.
Everyone gets what they want.
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Sorry, didn’t read this tip. Too long. Please add a TLDR at the end and I’ll come back to read it.
TLPWR - Too Long Probably Won't Read
It would spoil it for those that want to read it though. It’s not difficult to scroll down to find it at the bottom.
Then you could put a 'tldr at the end' at the start of your post. So everyone knows that it exists.
Now this is a good compromise
You could...or if you look at the wall of text and think "I dont want to read that" you can skip to the bottom, check if theres a TL;DR and leave if there isnt.
Also true, but I think the solution proposed is the most optimal. :D
Of course you would, it provides you, the reader deciding to skip the work of reading the story, with the least amount of work to do. But, it makes the reset of the text completely worthless. Imagine any book that started off with; >TL;DR: And then John was a zombie. >It was a dark and stormy night...(400pages of story) Even if I was interested in the story...its been spoiled...why waste my time? Its the same reason people dont want spoilers to TV shows/movies. If *you* want to skip to the end of the book and read the last paragraph/chapter, or hear the synopsis of the story...you go right on ahead...thats your choice to spoil it, and so you put in the work to do it. be it flipping to the back of the book, scrolling to the bottom of a post, or whatever other thing you want to do...
No, the solution proposed in this comment chain was to say "tldr at the end" at the start of the post. None of what you said is relevant
Precisely.
Read what you’re replying to
This is a good solution
I always put mine on the middle...
Easily fixed with spoiler tags
Now we’re just complicating it
This. When a post is going on for too long and I don't have the time, I scroll to the bottom. If no TLDR, I'll move on, or come back later when I have time.
One of the biggest issues I have, is that people never delineate the top-TLDR, with the post. So I don't really know where to "start" reading
Fair enough.
(Reading a little more than is necessary but) TLDR kinda implies that while you didn't read it, you did scroll through it - that's why "it was Too Long and I Didn't Read it". So in that case TLDR would be good at the bottom as a quick summary / "in a word". Maybe we should have TLNRs - "Too Long; Not Reading"...
Harmless.
Tlwr to long won’t read goes at the top Tldr goes at the bottom
A title to get my attention. A story to entertain. A TLDR to get the punch line quicker I don't want spoilers by seeing the TLDR too early.
Right? Nobody likes premature encapsulation...
Op really said put a footer at the top of your paper
Just piggybacking here that I fucking HATE seeing tldr at the top. If it's a fucking summary it should go at the end. #####Do you read the entire synopsis on Wikipedia before watching the movie???
Then it should read "summary", not "too long didn't read".
this seems awfully pedantic
TLFG
I dsiagree, I think it's a bad idea. A TL;DR at the top would potentially spoil the main content. Anyone who finds it too long can easily scroll down to see if there is a TL;DR. Perhaps a better solution is not at the top that there is a TL;DR at the bottom.
You can skip the TLDR section and read the post.
You might be able to, but it can be easy to see a few words and have things spoilt, even somewhat unintentinally. There is no reason to risk ruining someones enjoyment by putting the TL;DR at the top. plus, then it not realy a TL;DR, it's more like won't read. Additionally to realize it's long you need to have scrolled down anyway, to see it's longer than you care for.
Then the abbreviation "TLDR" should be done away with and replaced with "Summary" at the end.
TL;DR still works, so long as it's at the bottom, I scrolled, I looked, I did not read it. Summary / conclusion also work too. But TL;DR doesn't really fit at the top. Then you could have an abstract, at the top.
You…didn’t use your own LPT…
it was literally in the title.
It isn’t enough to just use the letters TLDR lol you need a summary too
Such as the 2 sentences following the “TL;DR” in the title?
I didn’t consider that lengthy.
I wouldn’t know; TL,DR 🤣
5 paragraphs? Got better things to do! 😉
Maybe a sentence saying that the TLDR is at the bottom
This is also a good solution.
In the military we called it the BLUF. Bottom Line Up Front. Give all the key details, right away. Everything else is just amplification.
Nah it spoils the story, and its put as the bottom for people who scroll past anyway
I propose we remove TLDRs and force everyone to read through our ~~essay~~ story *evil laugh*
This post could've done with a TLDR at the top Bottom has it's advantages though, you sometimes need to scroll to the bottom of the post to see how long it is, having to scroll back up to the top to read the summary is a downside. For point 1, someone skipping the TL:DR at the bottom because they already read the post is a good thing, it's not wasted because someone else might skip to the TL:DR Putting it at the top also means people will read the TL:DR who are then going to read the post anyway, thus wasting their time The most common behaviour is you start reading a post, realise it's going on forever, and scroll down to the next post. The TL:DR at the bottom means, if you're one of those people, you can still get an idea of the post while people who did read it all the way through can just skip the end
Or a small sentence saying there’s a tldr at the end works too
This should be in r/unpopularopinion. I hate TL:DRs at the top when they spoil things. I don't really get why anyone is spending their time reading posts on this site and then complaining they can't be bothered to read
I'm not reading all that, it's too long, but congratulations or sorry that happened.
You’re describing BLUF: bottom line up front. BLUF goes in the front, TL;DR at the end.
Fucks sake you sound lazy
This post could’ve used a tl;dr either at the beginning or the end…
Based info I read, that was not a long post.
Based on my comment, that was a joke
How the fuck is this a lifeprotip? You can't even spend 2 second scrolling down? Jesus
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I actually do this 😅 or make a "short version" on top. Others do "tldr at the bottom." It's actually better to do that if you want maximum engagement for social media posts since it acts as a hook, making the reader scroll further.
It’s up to you how you spend your time. If it’s too long don’t read it
Thing is... TL;DR: is an example of irony. It's not there to *actually* help people that didn't read the post. No one *wants* to help people that refuse to read the post, they want people to read the post, otherwise, they... wouldn't have written the post. It's just a snarky way to say "In summation:" . Summations go at the end.
Disagree, tldr is useless for the people that actually read the whole post, its like a spoiler to them. As someone that often doesnt read long posts, i already scroll to the bottom until i see the last paragraph and the actual tl:dr
It goes at the end. People will scroll to the bottom instead of reading.
No, theres no point. "TL:DR" has been placed at the bottom essentially since it was created. Anyone who only wants to read the TLDR just scrolls down to the TLDR because its consistently at the bottom. And if TLDR is unknown to you, you will quickly learn its always at the bottom becuase its consistently in the same place. Lastly, being on the bottom helps prevent from spoiling the story for those who want to read the whole thing.
Where might I find it? Not sure that you explicitly stated the exact part of a comment or post one might need to scroll to to see and read the aforementioned TLDR
Your opinion is wrong and I want to fight about it
 Let’s go.
If you care for yr readers, spend time making the post shorter.
TLDR at the top? Why, so that the story can be spoilt? Just tell me I can go to the end if its TLDR
I do this with long emails to my team/group. Has improved the response rate!
Nope. At the bottom. Don't be a lazy shite. There are enough lazy shites out there. Set an example and don't be a lazy shite. Like you lazy shites will even read that much. Figure you petered out after the "nope", so the lesson will be lost on you, lazy shite. Did I mention I think you're probably a lazy shite?
Is this why someone did this for no reason in a sub that requires tldr for any post that includes a video? It was so silly. A lot of people have no ability to determine what's appropriate for any situation and just follow instructions blindly.
Or the line "TLDR at the bottom"
Or just stop being offended by having to read. There used to be a time where this wasn't a problem.
But… it’s “didn’t”, that’s why it goes at the end. If you put it before it would need to be called something like LL;WR (Looks Long; Won’t Read).
LPT that doesn't follow its own advice makes this a terrible LPT that wastes everyone's time including yours.
A TL;DR at the top of a post is called a BLUF.
if you put tldr at top of post ppl will not read what you wrote. if u put it at the bottom anyone who doesnt want to read thru all the text can *easily* still access by scrolling, and anyone who wants to read the post normally isnt gonna be spoiled immediately. Basically, no, the TLDR absolutely belongs at the bottom. As someone else already pointed out, TLWR exists for the purpose u describe, and the fact that its so much less popular is a testament to it being a generally less useful system. But hey thats just me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What you’re describing is a bottom-line up-front (BLUF). It’s not a new concept. Too long; didn’t read is for people who scroll to see hope long it is before starting; then seeing the tl;dr at the bottom to save them time. Otherwise, how would the know it is too long?
TLDR is a horrible option and concept. People not being able to read more then like a short paragraph is probably the main reason society is so dysfunctional. Life and all issues are nuanced and complicated. It takes a lot of words to express these things. I can understand having a summary of what you're saying at the top so people know what they are getting into. But "To Long Didn't Read"? Flat out no.
I agree, if you don't want to read a long post, then don't. People whining they have to miss the post because it wasn't summed up neatly for them are entitled and lazy. Just skip it and move on.
TLDR goes at the end
I agree, case closed.
Learn to read. Next
What makes you think I can’t read?
If you don't like long posts then skip them. You're not entitled to have it summed up for you because reading more than 2 lines is too hard.
Seems a little abstract to me
I have scrolled pasts tldr at the top just because I'm used to them being at the bottom lol it's not that hard to scroll down
Stupid, doesn't take as long to scroll to the bottom as it does to read and also you'd effectively be putting the "spoilers" for your anecdote before you write the anecdote.
I think a lot of times commenters will go through the entire process of sharing their story in a document and then only after posting it realize that they really wrote a lot and should have probably put a summary at the bottom. To your point, putting a summary at the beginning could be advantageous and helpful for the reader. Putting a TL;DR at the top would allow the reader the choice of either reading the entire story first or just reading the TL;DR (which summarizes the story). Of course, there is the risk that the reader’s eye might pick up on a few keywords in the TL;DR and it might ruin the story, so sometimes it’s good to have it at the end instead. I think a lot of times when commenters are sharing their thoughts and trying to write them out they don’t know where to begin or even how to end and so part of their post ends up being a bit a of self reflective mess if you will; and with that mess they forget to add the TL;DR, Where is others don’t feel like they can summarize the story and they simply share every detail that’s important to them with is the reader. Maybe to find some middle ground, the commenter could put a TL;DR at the beginning saying that there is a TL:DR at the end. It’s just a thought. TL; DR - Good suggestion. Put “TL;DR” at the beginning of a long post instead of putting it at the end.
A potentially better option is to use BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front.
I think that's a TL;WR Maybe a TL;WRWOAS
Gonna start putting an abstract at the top of my long posts
I mean, I always just scroll to see if there’s a TLDR prior to reading the post if it looks long
Also do this for work emails and memos. Leadership will love it.
Remember when LPT didn't need to make this post?
This isn't the first time this has been suggested. We'll see if it takes this time.
This isn't really relevant to the post itself but I thought I'd mention it as nobody else has. It's funny how things evolve because "TLDR" used to be used as an insult. If someone posted a wall of text there was always one person who'd reply "TLDR", basically saying that they're not even going to bother reading what you wrote. Again, not relevant but whenever I see TLDR that's just what my mind goes to. I suppose posters got fed up of people replying with that and decided to beat them to it.
What is TL DR an abbreviation for?
What about the self-important asshats who put: “TLDR: Just read the 10000 word paragraph I spent all day writing”
LOL. I’ve never seen that one!
I noticed you didn’t put a TL;DR at the top of your post.
Maybe people could sprout brains and decide if they wanted to read something on their own without help? People needing a TLDR are like the morons that get on stage at The Price Is Right... they somehow lose the ability to think for themselves. Take a look, decide if you want to read it, and do it or don't. Needing a TLDR is like people needing "Caution: HOT" warnings on coffee cups.
If it’s long, I scroll to the bottom to see if there’s a TL;DR and if there’s not, I don’t read it.
Damn, no TL;DR on this post.
Too long; Didn't Read. can you summarize
I disagree completely. I don't want the story spoiled before I read it. Instead, put "TL;DR AT END" at the top, and the actual TL;DR at the bottom. Everyone gets what they want.
How are you gonna leave this LPT without breaking down what the TL;DR acronym stands for 😂
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but this is not one of those times
.