# Creating a post where every sentence is one line and its own paragraph - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036 "2017-03-12T22:50:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/1 "2017-03-12T22:50:24Z")
I’m seeing this all over the place lately, including here on the SDMB and I’m curious about it. Is it because people are posting on their phones or something? I’m also seeing where every sentence is double-spaced. Here is an example of what I’m talking about: > [@I don't understand holocaust denial](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-holocaust-denial/781963/25): > > You really don’t understand? > > HATE does not sell well. > HATE is not usually a good tool to indoctrinate. > It’s too open abrupt and vulgar, in most cases anyways. > > You sell the acceptance, you sell the image, you sell what the person is looking for, then you slowly bring them into the HATE, little by little in unassuming bite size pieces. > Dress it up as harmless at first until you have finished painting the picture in their minds that you wish them to see, once you have done that, then they will accept the HATE. > > Even Hitler had to begin by spoon feeding it at first. > [@Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping him](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/256): > > This dood is a phlake. > > Many high school students understand it’s a serious matter for a current serving U.S. president to accuse a prior U.S. president of having committed a felony. > > And without offering any evidence? > > Make the accusation first? Worry about getting the facts later? > > Donald Trump isn’t fit to be swing shift assistant manager at Piggly Wiggly. > > Setting his finger on “the button” is a MONUMENTALLY bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/2 "2017-03-12T23:05:54Z")
In many but not all cases, it is the equivalent of bullet pointing. The quoted Weisshund post seems to be an example of this as the rest of the post is a proper paragraph. Possibly phone thing too, yes. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/3 "2017-03-12T23:08:34Z")
I do it because it’s much easier to read on a wide monitor. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/4 "2017-03-12T23:58:18Z")
I always wrote it off to being a cheap easy version of bullet-points. Basically the writing-how-I-speak version of PowerPoint. I can’t complain much; I overuse hyphens. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/5 "2017-03-13T00:42:48Z")
Yeah, I think it’s bullet points. I’m on a phone and I don’t post that way. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/6 "2017-03-13T01:00:00Z")
Sometimes it’s parenthetical, but without parentheses I lean on this, myself ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/7 "2017-03-13T04:44:01Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > bullet point > [@kopek](#): > > bullet-points > [@cochrane](#): > > bullet points Huh. I never would have thought bullet points - glad I asked the question! ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/8 "2017-03-13T12:06:11Z")
The whole phenomenon is just one more piece of evidence showing that attention spans keep shrinking. Humanity is doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/9 "2017-03-13T12:23:58Z")
These are probably just examples of poor composition. Did you check each posters’ history to find out whether this is common posting style for them? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/10 "2017-03-13T14:35:00Z")
Whew! Glad I wasn’t used as the example. I do it sometimes, it is kind of the opposite of the wall of text. Maybe I just went a little too far in the opposite direction. I used to have a boss that would “skim” emails before replying to them, so I used to make my emails very bulleted, very easy to read. If you bury an important point in a paragraph, it would never been seen. I think it kind of developed from there. Look at that! At least three sentences in that last paragraph! ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/11 "2017-03-13T15:53:21Z")
I use a different writing style on a message board than I do in normal existence. On a message board, I use much more white space because it makes the text easier to read. Sometimes this turns into one sentence per paragraph, which I’m aware of but choose to go with. Personally, I have trouble reading an online paragraph that is more than three or four lines. I skip walls of text because they are simply to difficult to wade through. My texting style is pretty much a return at the end of every sentence, with an occasional double return to break things up. I have a enough confidence in my own writing to trust my instincts above general rules. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/12 "2017-03-13T15:58:06Z")
There’s no reason why a paragraph can’t be just one sentence, or even two or three short sentences. Like this one. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/13 "2017-03-13T15:58:47Z")
If you use the quick reply window, as I’m doing now, sometimes the text will wrap, but when the text is posted in the thread itself, turns out the lines don’t wrap. (In the quick reply window, the first sentence was two lines long. After posting, it’s only one line.) Also, as mentioned, people won’t read dense text, which might be as few as four lines. They might read something that looks like bullet points (but don’t count on it). Mostly, they will read the first few words, think they know what the rest of the post is going to say, and quickly respond. ETA: > [@RealityChuck](#): > > There’s no reason why a paragraph can’t be just one sentence, or even two or three short sentences. Like this one. True, but that doesn’t answer the question. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/14 "2017-03-13T16:54:48Z")
Are there any real style rules for a post? We can find well established guidelines for all sorts of forms for the written word, articles, letters, academic papers, etc. On what basis could we pedantically criticize the forms of posts on an online message board? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/15 "2017-03-13T17:52:42Z")
I’ve noticed that I tend to hit enter after each sentence when posting mobile. Like this. It is easier for me to review and proofread. Since I might be at work or otherwise out & about, there are often interruptions and distractions the keep me from writing an entire post at once. Paragraphs are indicated as shown. I’ve also become a bit self consious of my double spaces after sentences. I know it’s incorrect but it’s how I was taught and the habit is really lodged in there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/16 "2017-03-13T18:03:14Z")
One line per paragraph? Those guys aren’t trying hard e n o u g h . ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/17 "2017-03-13T18:50:19Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > I use a different writing style on a message board than I do in normal existence. On a message board, I use much more white space because it makes the text easier to read. Sometimes this turns into one sentence per paragraph, which I’m aware of but choose to go with. > > Personally, I have trouble reading an online paragraph that is more than three or four lines. I skip walls of text because they are simply to difficult to wade through. > > My texting style is pretty much a return at the end of every sentence, with an occasional double return to break things up. > > I have a enough confidence in my own writing to trust my instincts above general rules. This, too. I’ll read a long post if it’s broken up into readable chunks. Whether it’s actual paragraphs or a few sentences at a time with breaks between them. Post a wall-o- text and you can fuhgeddabouddit. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/18 "2017-03-13T19:37:49Z")
Sometimes there are different fonts and different screen sizes to contend with. There are the hazards of composing in one program before cutting and pasting into another (spellcheck, etc.) Sometimes I’m in a hurry or using a phone with wonky controls, so I might not hit “preview post” to see what it looks like before submitting. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/19 "2017-03-13T20:15:10Z")
It’s a conscious reaction to the wall of text. Here have one: > [@Extremely important question, from a confused black teenager](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-important-question-from-a-confused-black-teenager/781189/1): > > Hi… I’m Alostsomeone, and I like science and history and getting straight A’s (this intro is really unnecessary, but hopefully it’ll provide some context to the rest of what I’m about to say). For the past year or two I’ve dedicated much of my online resources to disproving racist claims about black people and why “we” do and don’t do certain things, because upon first hearing many of these claims, being a sheltered home schooled kid formerly engrossed in white suburban culture, they were extremely alarming and destroyed much of my self-confidence and pride in my identity, despite none of the common black stereotypes applying to me. I’ve managed to clear up much of the mystery surrounding the IQ debate for myself, something I may or may not go into later (I don’t really feel the need to attract any more of the stormfront trolls I’ve seen on this board before than this thread already will) but not the crime rates… I’ve heard a lot of people say that the high crime rate of afro americans is mainly due to lack of economic opportunities, fatherless homes and racism; that was what I believed for a while, but now, I’m not so sure. I came across a few blogs (extremely biased ones) where people were posting crime states from 1904-1960s showing that even then, black men were grossly overrepresented in crime despite comprising even less of the population back then, and despite single-parent homes being extremely uncommon in the black community during that time frame. I found the stats suspicious immediately; first off because there was little evidence for where the documents originated, as they seemed to have been circulating around the same cluster of extremely racist blogs; secondly because of course during that time frame, many black people were falsely accused, arrested and lynched for crimes they played no part in; so naturally, I wrote it off as bullshit. The only thing that made me question whether or not I was wrong for doing so was when I read the writings of W.E.B Dubois on subject; he seemed to agree even then that there was a violent crime problem in black communities, wrote of it almost extensively, and didn’t think it could be explained by the racist bias of the time. That was disturbing to me; to be clear, I still don’t think it’s genetic, in-part because the so-called “warrior gene” so many claim we possess is also, according to studies, extremely common among chinese men, who’s crime rates are low. My question is: If the crime rates aren’t because of fatherless homes, poverty, or racism, then why has been like this for so long? Obviously racism and poverty were much worse prior the 1960s, and yet as those have decreased (but not gone away) crime in the black community has risen every decade (discounting between now and the 90s, where overall crime declined). If it were high even then, when single parent homes were not the norm, then what could be the cause? > > Note: I have considered the possibility that W.E.B Dubois could’ve been wrong or overly optimistic to assume that racism and false reports were not inflating the black crime rate, in fact, I wonder why he would think such a thing at all. I do think his writings however give us reason to question whether or not “the break-down of the black family” is really responsible. > Sources upon which I base my conclusions and statements (some of them questionable, but you decide): > [Race and crime in the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States) > [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/dubois/ch09.html](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/dubois/ch09.html) \<\< Quote from Dubois (I consider him about the only trustworthy source I’m listing here, he’s the only one who made me even consider what those wacky blogs were saying) > [Violent Crimes: Black On White & White On Black: Black Males & Their Historical Crime Rates](http://theinjusticefile.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-males-historical-crime-rates.html) > ^ Some sketchy documents here and on a few other similar blogs that seem as if they were spawned by the same person… > [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1261](http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1261) > ^ This wasn’t originally where I saw the claim for 11 percent single-parent rate prior to the 70s, and I don’t agree with all the other crap it says about the left; but I’ve seen the 11 percent stat touted by a lot of black and white conservatives alike who say that before fathers left the community, crime was supposedly so much lower, which doesn’t match up of course with what Web Du bois thought. > > But yeah, I’d like to know what you guys think; about what Du Bois said, possible causes of the crime rate, etc. > > I will entertain a genetic explanation IF: > -Provide a plausible explanation for why the “warrior gene” would not produce the same effects in chinese males > -Provide a plausible explanation for why within group heritability for IQ would apply between groups which follow completely different sets of social cues and receive vastly differing treatment in nearly ever aspect of life. > -Prove that the IQ gap hasn’t been closing (more recent reports suggest that it has reduced by roughly 5 points, based on statistically representative samples and controlling for the renorming of tests) > -Explain why many social interventions have been relatively successful in reducing teen pregnancy and propensity for crime, while improving academic performance even when they don’t raise IQ > -Explain why some interventions have produced permanent gains > -Explain why recent evidence suggests that the fade out effect seen with most interventions is not due to a failure to raise ‘g’ (in other words, interventions can raise general intelligence for children, but because they are limited effects don’t last). > > To summarize my entire questions: Why does it seem that black people have been overrepresented in crime for so long? If it’s reliable; then why is this, and how can we fix it? I’m open minded, will entertain all perspectives as long as you have compelling evidence that I have not already reviewed :dubious:. Thank you. Yes, there are occasional carriage returns in there, but great balls of fire that’s painful to wade through on a message board. Make your point, use some white space, and keep things brief and to the point, if possible. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036/20 "2017-03-13T21:03:53Z")
I figured people only read the beginnings of lines, and if I have a point to make or something important to say… …it goes on a new line. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-a-post-where-every-sentence-is-one-line-and-its-own-paragraph-why/782036.md?page=2)