Welcome to the seventh edition of "Zero Impact Posts" (ZIPs). If you missed the first edition, you may want to read it in order to learn about the many positive aspects of ZIPs and thus the inspiration for the ZIP series. See the fourth edition for the raison d'etre for the ZIP series.
According to Jotter, during the previous week, there were 1322 posts, of which 1284 received recommendations and 858 had more than 9 commenters.
And according to me, there were only 9 posts that had no recommendations and no comments. They had absolutely zero impact, as judged by these measures. See below for a table with these rare and remarkable posts.
The ZIP list is new and improved!
I have added a column "cat", which describes the category of the post. For now, I have chosen to highlight these categories: C(ross-posted), P(romotional), O(rganizational). See the second edition for more information about cross-posted and promotional posts. The organizational posts include press releases among others.
I have also added columns for readability statistics, which were discussed last week:
RE = Reading Ease (i.e., Flesch Reading Ease)
GL = Grade Level (i.e., Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level)
wrd = Word Count
Readability Statistics and "Potential Impact" and the ZIP List
In last week's edition, I embarked on a project to find a way to use readability statistics to estimate the potential impact (PI) of each post on the ZIP list. Assuming I could find a way to estimate PI, then I could show the PI # next to each ZIP and sort the ZIP list accordingly. In this way, viewers of the ZIP list could get a quick idea of which posts would be most likely to engage them, whether to enthrall or to enrage.
So far, this project is still in the R&D phase or maybe it's in the deep-6 phase. In any case, I have not yet been able to find any useful patterns.
For now, I've added columns to the ZIP list for showing readability stats, which can be used however anyone sees fit.
Readability Statistics and Writers
Here are some tips for writers, which could also be helpful for readers:
What are Readability Statistics?
The Flesch Reading Ease readability statistics formula rates text on a 100-point scale based on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard documents, aim for a readability score of approximately 60 to 70. The Flesch Reading Ease formula is one of the best-known and most popular readability indicators.
What are Readability Statistics?
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level readability statistics formula rates text on a U.S. grade-school level based on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader would understand the text. Given standard writing averages seventh to eighth grade, aim for a score between 7.0 and 8.0. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula is one of the best-known and most popular readability indicators.
Here are tips specifically for web writing:
Using MS Word Readability Statistics for Web Writing
For Web writing:
- The total word count should be no greater than 500 words for a general page, or 700 words for a long page.
- ... you need to look at the document with fresh eyes when:
the Flesch Reading Ease score is lower than 60%, or
the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score is greater than 5 - 7 (for younger readers),
5 - 9 (general readers) or 7 - 12 (industry or technical readers)
- Note that the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score needs to be lower for Web content than for hardcopy material, taking the physiological factors (eg. decreased reading speed and comprehension, increased fatigue) into account.
This article has a lot of info on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level:
ENG 101: Reading Level
You might be surprised to know that many newspapers are written to be understood by people with an eighth-grade education or higher, meaning that many newspapers would probably have a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of about 8.
If your essay has a readability grade level of 6 or 7 (or below), it would probably be a good idea to try to raise the reading level. Such a score is probably an indication of the use of many short words and short sentences.
It is also important to note that the reading grade level of an essay might be high if there are run-on sentences or comma splices in the essay. These serious grammatical errors occur when two or more sentences are incorrectly written as just one sentence. Word might mistakenly interpret the long sentences without taking into account that the sentences appear long because they include major grammatical errors.
A couple of other good articles:
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Readability Metrics: Are They Getting Your Message? by Paul Nicholls
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wikipedia - Readability
Readability Statistics and Readers
In one of the quotes above, it was explained that the "Flesch Reading Ease" metric and the "Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level" metric are both based on the following two measures:
- the average number of words per sentence
- the average number of syllables per word
Here is a chart (using the data from last week's edition) that compares the two metrics:
I'm thinking about showing only one of the metrics in future ZIP editions, because they are fairly similar, albeit inversely related.
One amusing aspect is that I'm sure many people would say they prefer readable posts, but at the same time, they might think "I don't want to read a 4th grade post."
But just because a post is evaluated as a "Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level" of 4, does not mean that the post is not good or that it is not sophisticated with respect to its ideas and presentation. It just literally means that the sentences have few words and the words have few syllables. Also, posts that have a high grade level may feature a lot of run-on sentences, which is not exactly desirable.
So, each reader may differ in what they prefer. For complex subjects, some readers may prefer shorter sentences. Or maybe a reader's mood may affect their preferred readability stats.
It's the same with word count. The preferred word count may depend on the subject matter, the reader's state of mind, how much time they have, etc.
Just to give you an idea of how these stats relate to actual posts, here is MS Word's analysis of this post that you are reading right now:
Summary
Whew! Glad that's over with. This research was a bit intense for a silly series. With that in mind, let's set a course that will take us from R&D to R&R, from the salt mines to the salt baths, from the Amazon River to the Lazy River, from which perspective we can enjoy all the warmth and beauty of the spring season we're living in.
Walden - by Henry David Thoreau - published in 1854
"I have spent many an hour, when I was younger, floating over its surface as the zephyr willed, having paddled my boat to the middle, and lying on my back across the seats, in a summer forenoon, dreaming awake, until I was aroused by the boat touching the sand, and I arose to see what shore my fates had impelled me to; days when idleness was the most attractive and productive industry. Many a forenoon have I stolen away, preferring to spend thus the most valued part of the day; for I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly; nor do I regret that I did not waste more of them in the workshop or the teacher's desk."