Stefan Bohacek (@stefan@stefanbohacek.online)
Föderation EN Mo 02.09.2024 16:28:42
I don't really think much about those reading time indicators, I certainly don't use them on my own websites, but @baldur makes some good points.
"To be meaningful, a reading time estimation algorithm needs to take a number of these variables into account. The bare minimum would combine text complexity [...] and vocabulary, with length and the median level of schooling of the assumed audience to get a rough estimate."
Chee Aun 🤔 (@cheeaun@mastodon.social)
Föderation EN Mo 02.09.2024 16:48:30
@stefan @baldur in my opinion, I disagree with "estimated reading times are useless to the reader". The way I see them is no different that estimated time of arrival or departure for walking, cycling, driving or even flying on planes.
"850 words" is also no different than absurd relative timestamps on posts e.g. "150 days ago", which I have to recalculate them in my mind as "roughly 4+ months".
Chee Aun 🤔 (@cheeaun@mastodon.social)
Föderation EN Mo 02.09.2024 16:57:23
I want to point that accuracy is not the (UX) goal here, thus the word "estimated". We developers like it to be accurate, I know. I've personally gone into this rabbit hole too of calculating it accurately but realised that they don't matter much. Same applies to average walking speed (another rabbit hole).