Sometimes when discussing online content, a distinction is made between “long form” and “short form” content. I won’t go into the distinction here (frankly, there is a good bit of gray area between the two), rather my point is that there may be a better distinction in the first place.

Long form and short form are both concerned with outputs, but I think a more useful consideration for the value of our content are the inputs. If we look at content through the lens of how much time and care went into a piece, we’ll find that the final length is neither good nor bad but thinking ahead makes it so.

For instance, on the one hand, it’s very possible to record an hour long podcast with zero preparation that ends up being a series or rambling tangents which provide very little value, while on the other hand you can take the time to make a long piece shorter.

Ultimately it comes down to making sure we are developing and nurturing our content in such a way that the value gained by the audience outweighs the time-cost of whatever format we choose, be it long or short.