It’s been a fair while since I posted, hasn’t it? There’s pretty much one reason for that: Twitter. I used to think the term “microblogging” was a bit bullshitty, but actually, I do seem to post all my cool links there these days rather than do a whole post about them.
It’s daft really. I always feel pressured to do a whole load of spiel to go with everything I post (probably from English lessons at school. Can’t turn in anything less than two A4 sides!), but I personally prefer the blogs that just say “Here’s something cool” with a couple of lines about it. Wordy posts tend to get skipped in my Google Reader. That’s probably heresy for a copywriter to admit, but I know the majority of the internet is with me, so we might as well all face the truth. If you’re just sharing a cool link or picture or video, no-one’s going to read a thesis about it unless they suspect you have something really interesting to add.
Of course, there are some wordy posts in my Google Reader that always get read. Adland Suit’s brilliant ranty posts, Charlie Brooker’s brilliant ranty posts, and stuff I happen to be interested in. But when the post is just showing off a cool piece of content, Twitter proves you really don’t need more than a line or two to go with it.
So, on that note, here’s a cool (if slightly gory) way of using packaging to get a message across:
[via The Dieline]
And here’s my opinion: great idea, with one big problem. When has a ketchup packet ever ripped open the way it’s supposed to? I’d be willing to bet that kid’s been disembowelled, bitten, and hacked at with knives to get at his ketchuppy insides by now. Landmines have got nothing on the savagery I’ve seen in McDonald’s of a lunchtime.
