I've been running a little concept for the last seventy seven weeks which gained a lot of engagement in the form of comments weekly. It was fun and I enjoyed the by-play and often very funny comment-threads a great deal.
A couple weeks ago I changed it into a post-prompt initiative to give people posting ideas for the weekend. I felt that a person posting something great, and adding some engagement on other people's posts in answer to my topics, would help people build their profiles and accounts much more effectively. You can see this week's post topics here.
It seems to be going ok but I noticed something today and felt inclined to bring it up in a short post.
Forty one word titles?
I saw several users had simply taken the text from my topic-prompts and used it as their post title. I'm not sure where this practice of long-worded titles began but have noticed it right across hive, especially with the bilingual posts. When it started happening on my #weekend-engagement and in my community THE WEEKEND I felt inclined to mention it.
The users have simply copied the topic question I wrote on the announcement post and pasted it into their title. It's a person's prerogative to do as they please of course, just as it is for me to have my opinions...And what is that opinion?
Well, I don't find titles like that very interesting or engaging. It's just way too much text. I find it a bit of a turn-off to be quite frank.
I speak only for myself here, this is my personal opinion only, and I don't intend my comments to be taken on-board by others as they are free to choose for themselves. My strategy on titles, in case anyone cares, is to try and make them engaging, a very short hook to capture attention and make people wonder what might come next. I'm not a writer though so I have no real clue I suppose. I just like my titles to be short, and accompanied with a reasonable image.
Five or six words maximum
A short punchy title, gives one the ability to get creative also as one must find something that relates to the text, a few words that sets the tone or theme of the post to come. It should draw interest, make people curious...You know, something interesting, not a paragraph of words that, for me, makes me want to move on without even clicking into the post.
Again, I want to stress the fact that this is just my personal opinion only - I am not a writer or media professional. Of course, one only needs to take a look at just about every title ever and one will see that shorter titles are the way to go. Less is more.
Long title - Short goodbye
If I see long titles, especially those long dual-language ones, I tend to move elsewhere without opening the post - again, that's just me - and when coupled with a poor image, blurry, dark, uninteresting, there's no hesitation to scroll onward and seek something more engaging. I really think people misunderstand what the title and main image is there for...It's there to capture interest and if it does not do that it matters not how good the post may be. Making up interesting titles is not rocket science - Present as best as you can. It seems logical.
Anyway, that's about it...A short post about long titles. I know many won't ready this, and probably not the people who really should but I feel a little better having written it.
I hope y'all have a good weekend and if you are looking for a post topic this weekend take a look at this week's post topics announcement - You have all weekend to get your entry in and a good chance at some additional curation and some hive in prizes.
Today's tips:
- Shorter and more creative post titles
- In-focus and interesting images
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Discord: galenkp#9209
The image is mine, not yours