Clever copy
June 17th, 2004 by Bill
Generally, people don’t read closely online. So it’s not a good idea to be too clever in your copy. We don’t pay attention and therefore we miss subtleties. I’ve seen instances where this is sometimes taken as meaning there are a lot of stupid people out there, but it isn’t this at all. Very intelligent people miss cleverness too.
Because of this, I think I sometimes come across as an advocate for bland. (The truth is I think bland equals disaster.) But Seth Godin has a great example of what I’m trying to get across to co-workers or clients who want to get too cute. Have a look at his post, In the end, copy wins. It’s a great example of how people read online and how copy has to take this into account.
When we encounter text online, we’re generally in an active, task-oriented state. We "read" in a rushed manner, impatiently. And more often than not, we just skim the first few lines, glance at what is remaining, and skip to the end where we skim again (if we even get that far). (This post is an example. A lot of people only glanced at the first paragraph and are not going to see this sentence.)
I know this is true with Seth’s original post and link. I confess, I didn’t know what to make of it when I saw it. Like others, I thought he was a bit daft calling the posted Clinton "exclusive" great writing. But I didn’t actually read the post - not all of if, and not closely. I’m just glad I didn’t do my usual knee-jerk thing and send off an e-mail telling him he was nuts.
The problem is, as he states in his first subsequent point, it’s too clever. I like to think I’m not a dullard. I certainly hope not. But I, and a lot of people, come across this way due to the way we tend to read online (which really isn’t reading at all).
So … While I don’t celebrate bland - not by a long shot - I definitely think you need to be plain and clear first, at least online. Too many people just don’t pick up on nuances. I don’t think this means you can’t be a bit creative too; it’s just the creativity has certain constraints. (As Seth indicates, good Web copy is something of a high wire act.)
I also wonder if this issue of how people read doesn’t extend beyond the Internet into other areas too. It could be our Internet habits are finding their way into other areas of our lives. It could be we now bring this partial, hurried attention to other areas like TV and print. But that’s just a suspicion. I’m not sure if this is true - but it may be.
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