Writing
Shocking Title/Picture Discovery After 203 Articles
Title & Picture sequence in your article is really important. Wrong and readers won’t see the title
Surprise!
When I first started writing on Medium four years ago, the standard I was used to was image, kicker, title, and subtitle. Nobody, editor or reader, mentioned that it should be any different. Then yesterday, the editor of Politically Speaking, Katharine Valentino, sent this message for my latest submission:
You may want to put these elements — kicker, title, subtitle, image — in the normal order so readers won’t think something is wrong when they first open your article.
I was confused by the term “normal order” and wondered why that would be normal. After a round of messages, she agreed to let them stay the way I had them.
I wanted to know if that order was really a standard and if it was technically important. So, I checked.
“Normal Order” investigation
First, I checked about a dozen current articles listed on Medium. Normal order. Then, I checked one- and two-year-old articles by a popular writer. Maybe the sequence had recently changed. Nope, normal order. Finally. I checked MSN articles. Pictures displayed were all over the place. Some were embedded in the article.
I wondered if print articles were any different. I didn’t find any, if it had a picture, where the picture was before the title. Finally, I checked my articles from 1982 in technical magazines. None had lead pictures.
So, I have no idea where the order I was using came from. Still, I had no reason to change.
The real clue
My favorite local band, Groove 41, was appearing at City Fire last week. Just before we left home, I received a Facebook post on my main computer that they would be there. I replied that we would be at our regular table.
Five minutes after we arrived, May, the Lead Singer, came over to our table and said that she got my message. They were already at City Fire setting up when I sent it. I realized that the only way she would have seen it was on her cell phone. She was looking at it when we came in.
So, after I received the “normal order” message, I got out my cell phone and pulled up an old article. I saw half of the picture and none of the title!
It makes a difference if you read from a cell phone instead of a real computer with a 16-inch screen. I use my cell phone for calls & texts only. Occasionally, we use Google Maps when we are lost. Never the internet.
Most people use their cell phones for everything these days.
I have work to do!
One great feature of Medium.com vs. print articles is that you can fix errors after your article is published. I’ve fixed blatant errors two or three times, but it is a feature that should not be abused.
I immediately changed the new article, Political Claims: Fact or Sadistic Fantasy? moving the picture after the subtitle.
I have 14 Table-of-Contents (TOC) articles by subject area. There is no way to determine what they are about with just half of a picture. I changed all of them before I went to bed.
Today, after I complete this article, I will change my most recent articles and the top 10 or 15 of my most popular articles, those with steady views over time. Then, of the remaining 170 articles, I may or may not change them.
Thanks to Katharine Valentino for bringing the problem to my attention.
Follow-up note: Facebook shows articles with the picture at the top, then the kicker, title & subtitle.
References
- Article subject of the “normal order” message
- Editor for the publication Politically Speaking
- Publication link
- Lead singer provided major clue
