Get to the point blog writers!
Make your assertion clearly and right at the top, explain it if it could be misconstrued so that we know what the hell is being discussed.
Then go on to write about it.
It seems like every second blog post linked to here is a long rambling missive that only reveals the point somewhere minutes into reading it long after my eyes have glazed over.
Good rule of thumb for this kind of audience - invert your essay structure. Put the concluding paragraph first, then work backwards through the supporting paragraphs till you get to the original question.
That style is much more engaging than traditional, overused, boring form of "Intro para -> 3x supporting para -> conclusion". Instead make a strong/counterintuitive/nonobvious/etc unsupported assertion right off the bat, then work backwards to support it.
That initial assertion captures peoples attention much more effectively than a slow build up, b/c they then want to read on to find out if the author can actually support it, and are gratified when you do.
In fact I've recently found myself reading blog posts backward just to skip the rambling pre-amble and get straight to the meat of it, but I still backtrack from the end to the beginning, filling in the details.
And, books != essays.
Can't think of a good example atm, but will try to find one and have it handy in case this topic ever comes up again.
> That style is much more engaging than traditional, overused, boring form of "Intro para -> 3x supporting para -> conclusion".
No, its not "more engaging" than the traditional 5 paragraph essay, because in the traditional 5-paragraph essay format, the first sentence (the thesis statement) is the unsupported (to that point!) position which the rest of the essay supports. You aren't arguing for "inverting" the "traditional, overused, boring" 5 paragraph essay format, you are arguing for using the "traditional, overused, boring" 5 paragraph essay format in exactly the manner it is traditionally taught.
Either way, for blog posts, let's dispense with the long-winded intro.
Insofar as long, rambling intros that don't get quickly to a point are the norm, that's a standard only insofar as "people don't bother to apply any writing advice anyone has ever given" is a standard.
No, seems just regular plain laziness. On your part, that is, wanting the gist of the article to be spoon-fed to you.