Clippings

Misguided Men

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.

We have guided missiles and misguided men."

— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pretty Good Goods prefaced its mailer for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with this quotation.

tl;dr?

I would have passed over this notice from The Washington Post if Explore hadn't underscored it shortly after I saw it.

The triumph of tl;dr (too long; didn’t read)

Remember when FedEx was Federal Express? Or when AOL was American Online? There’s a huge trend toward  shortening everything. A troubling aspect of the rise of tl;dr rise is the implication for reading. Research has shown children read fewer books as they are drawn to the quicker digital alternatives such as games and apps. Our media options have exploded in the age of the Internet, meaning it’s a battle for companies to get their voices heard. It’s easier to stand out and hold attention with a short and efficient message. Even tweets are getting shorter. As Thomas Jefferson said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”

In that spirit, Visa has decided not to use six words when five will do. The company is shortening its slogan from “It’s everywhere you want to be” to “Everywhere you want to be.” From the New York Times:

IN a world where time-pressed people type “u 2” for “you too”; say “because” to introduce a noun or adjective rather than a full clause, as in “because doughnuts;” and use abbreviations like “ftw” (“for the win”), marketing and media phrases are also increasingly being compressed. For instance, commercials for Alka-Seltzer Plus keep the words “Oh, what a relief it is” from their vintage predecessors while eliminating the “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz.” The sequels to “The Fast and the Furious” go by titles like “Fast & Furious 6.” And “Masterpiece Theater” on PBS is now “Masterpiece.”