I got into a fight on LinkedIn this week because I shared a meme that hurt some feelings.

Maybe I messed up by bringing Twitter style content to LinkedIn, but oh well. Sometimes the truth just needs to be said out loud.

Everyday I work with the world's leading newsletters at SparkLoop, helping them grow and monetize, and I get to see behind the curtains of the biggest and most successful media companies to know what's actually working.

The truth is, most newsletters are dying, they just don’t know it because they're looking at vanity metrics.

They see a 30% open rate or a 1.5% click rate and think everything is going great. But the dark reality is that open and click rates like that are probably privacy filters and bots...not real people.

Here's what got me in trouble:

Then I went to the comments, and I got called out.

People either thought I was totally wrong or 100% right. No in between.

The next day I shared a little more nuance after admitting that I was being feisty.

I agree that long-form content isn't dead. It's just different.

I was too absolute.

Earlier this week I spent 12 minutes reading “Jacob’s corner…” in A Media Operator's newsletter.

Every. Single. Sentence.

Why? Because Jacob writes with purpose.

Every paragraph earns its place.

The length serves his readers, not his ego.

I messed up by conflating "long" with "wasteful."

The real problem isn't word count. It's respect.

Long-form that educates?

That challenges my thinking?

That makes me better at my job?

I'll read 3,000 words without blinking.

Long-form that's just…long? That's just fluff dressed up as depth?

Archived in 3 seconds (if it makes it that long).

The question IS NOT, "should I write short-form or long-form?"

The question IS, "Does every sentence earn its place?"

If you have to ask whether your content is too long, it probably is.

Most newsletters aren't dead YET, but how they write and connect with their audience will determine their future.

Short, actionable content is great.

Saving your readers time with roundups of what matters to them = awesome!

Long-form that entertains, educates, or goes deep with purpose -- you'll be just fine.

Anything else and you'll end up paying for it.

I started a LinkedIn fight this week so you don't have to learn this lesson the hard way.

If I saved you from embarrassing yourself with a dying newsletter, the least you can do is support the chaos.

Here's to keeping your newsletter off life support!

Robby