How not to send a comment

In this reply e-mail I sent to a reader today, I discuss a problem I repeatedly run into with comments that are sent to VFR. The comment will revolve around some information which the reader tells me is at an article somewhere, and he provides the link to the article, but doesn’t give the slightest idea of what the article actually says.

I wrote to the reader:

Dear Mr. _____,

A comment needs to be self-sufficient, standalone, so that it is understandable by itself. A reader of your comment should not have to click on a link and read an entire article at some other website to know what the point of your comment is. You need to give us some idea of what the linked article says. Then the reader will understand what you are talking about. If he is interested, he can go to the linked article and read more. But even if he’s not interested in reading more, he will still understand your comment.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 19, 2012 01:10 PM | Send