Academic Writing Doesn’t Work Online

Why scholarly writing won’t engage readers in the digital age

Most of my favorite writers on the internet are excellent storytellers. They capture the essence of an idea, relate that idea to their own experiences, and offer an axiom or some other sort of truth that resonates with their audiences. They’re almost universally well-read and well-educated, but the latter trait often gets downplayed for good reason.

Writing for internet readers is both an art and science that I won’t pontificate on because I’m not really qualified to do so. What I can do is explain why, from my experience, academic writing doesn’t fare well online.

No one has time to care

Writing online means you’re competing with thousands of other writers and an innumerable number of other distractions. I was reading a piece yesterday with ads that led me to buy a new toothbrush. I don’t remember what I was reading or why I was reading it, but Best Buy had a great deal on a Phillips Sonicare 6100, and that’s all it took to divert my attention.

I remember the article being engaging, but this is just an example of how even good writing won’t hold the attention of enthusiastic readers 100% of the time. That means you can’t afford to bore readers with your dissertation research no matter how relevant you think it is to your punchline (it’s not by the way). People either don’t care or they don’t have time to care. In either case, you’re dead in the water if your writing voice sounds like it was lifted from the Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice.

No one has time to digest highly technical information

Comprehension of academic writing is often predicated on a basic understanding of the topic. When you write a journal article, you can safely assume your audience is familiar with the, often, super technical topics addressed in academia.

For the sake of not plagiarizing or reexplaining details that have already been heavily expounded upon, you include bibliographies, diagrams, charts, and figures to clarify your key points or set the stage for the novelty and/or necessity of your research.

I’ve seen various estimates, but the average reader only stays on a webpage for about 10 seconds. I enjoy that Medium gives estimated reading times on articles, but the reality is most people aren’t sticking around that long. They just don’t have time.

If the material is too dense, too technical, or too abstract, you’ll be lucky if they don’t click away in the first 5 seconds.

It’s sterile

Which would you rather read:

If one were to examine the stylistic nuances of writers in the digital age, one would find the basic tenets of such work misaligned with that of the canon of literature harvested in the Ivory Tower.

or

When I read stories on Medium or other online platforms, I see a lot of major differences compared to academia.

Probably the second one, right? It’s the same general idea, but it’s more personal because I’m sharing my opinion not one’s opinion, and the language is more accessible.

Most of the writing done in academia is designed to explain the specific phases of the scientific process. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but there’s a level of distance and sterility in that type of writing that doesn’t translate well for writing on the web.

With the abundance of words online, people want to feel some sort of connection to the writer rather than just the content. That’s why my favorite online writers almost always use personal experience to drive home more universal truths.

Brevity…or lack thereof

An abstract is usually about 200 words. The journal article that follows is usually well over 4,000 words. If you figure the average person reads about 200wpm, they’re barely going to get through the abstract. If you accept the average time spent on a page is 10 seconds, they’re barely getting through the first sentence.

The numbers are just approximations, but the reality they represent is not. Academic writing is notoriously protracted. Unless you have a loyal readership with a vested interest in the subject matter, no one’s going to read the whole thing if you babble on for pages and pages.

Usefulness and Relevance

The intricacies of vocal physiology fascinate me. The psychology of learning, somatics, and organizational behavior are very dear to me; however, I understand everyone doesn’t feel that way. The vast majority of people who read what I write are more interested in the how than the why — the what than the mechanics. If I need to geek out, I’ll submit an article to VASTA, not publish a story on Medium.

Academic writing doesn’t work in the digital age because ain’t nobody got time for that. Say what you mean. If they want more information, there’s a ton of it available. Your job is to make a connection, make a point, and call it a day.