Blog entry by Orji Anyianuka
With social media and emails, short-form writing has increased astronomically and has become the dominant form of written business communication. By general definition, short-form writing is typically 400-600 words, can be read in as little as two minutes, and doesn’t require much critical thinking. We can then say that long-form writing is over 600 words, requiring more than two minutes of reading and critical thinking.
Short-form writing includes emails, text messages and social media posts. Long-form writing includes technical reports, and survey results, etc, and they persist for good reasons. Some business stakeholders, like investors and clients, require annual reports and detailed proposals for large projects.
Short and long-form writings are more suited to different situations and have their strengths and weaknesses. However, when used in business communication, they should have the qualities of business writing: directness, conciseness, clarity, and logic.
The strength of short-form writing lies in the fact that they are fast, simple, portable and efficient. Which makes them easy to use and able to be sent anywhere in the world. Recipients can read them quickly anywhere and anytime and constantly stay in touch.
In business, long-form communication meets the needs for communication in which the subject is complex, the stakes are high, the issue is controversial, and the audience expects a large amount of detail.