FastCo.Labs is experimenting with what it calls “slow liveblogging,” an approach to writing that takes a cue from Wikipedia. Stories start as “stubs” and are gradually lengthened over time. What they found was that drawing out the life of a story by constantly updating it caused readers to stay on the site longer.
Author Chris Dannen conflates quality with length, which is problematic, but the traffic metrics are nonetheless interesting, as is the discussion of how to build a more adaptable CMS.
One comment:
We’re not conflating length with quality. We simply don’t publish long pieces unless they’re deep and well reported. Although, I see the point in drawing the distinction. I’ll address that in a follow up post. Thanks for reading.
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