Do online readers notice editing?
Fred Vultee presented a session today at the American Copy Editors Society conference in Phoenix delving into some of his research into this question.
The answer: Yes -- and no.
Readers notice details and grammar. But in a sort of counter-intuitive finding, he says online readers are more likely than other readers to find stories we journos might consider well-edited to be badly organized, while stuff just thrown up is more likely to be considered better organized.
Go figure. Nick Jungman has a complete rundown of the session on his blog.
Labels: editing, online editing, online errors, online vs. print
posted by Doug @ 12:33 AM
4 comments|
4 Comments:
It's been my experience that online readers only notice editing when it is absent.
To be clear, Doug, it's that online editors are more likely than than other readers to find edited stories badly organized. I don't think it's that most of them find edited stories badly organized.
Nick:
Thanks for that. Oversight in typing on my part (which is why we all need editors - and one of the beauties of linkage; people can go to your full post).
I assume in your comment you mean "online readers," not "online editors."
Doug
Yes, the readers have developed a great sense to ascertain the standard of writing. The presence of grammatical mistakes, punctuation flaws and weak sentence structure will not make the reader go for the same author's other work. Some readers file their concerns with publishers or editors, while a good number of readers simply remain quiet. Any piece of writing must feature logical approach and rational wisdom. Extending a baseless point to a mini dissertation is totally a futile attempt.
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