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How to Write Social Media Posts People Actually Finish Reading
It’s not the hook. It’s what happens after the first few lines.
Kevin Szabo
January 19, 2026
In partnership with
I’ve been thinking about why some things are easy to read all the way through, and others aren’t.
Not in a technical sense.
More in the quiet way you start noticing patterns after years of reading online.
You open something.
You read the first few lines.
And then, at some point, without really deciding to, you stop.
Nothing went wrong.
Nothing confused you.
You just didn’t feel pulled forward anymore.
That moment is subtle, but it happens constantly.
And once you notice it, you see it everywhere.
I’ve been doing this with X articles a lot personally.
Most people assume the problem is attention.
Getting someone to notice the post.
Then getting someone to read it.
But finishing is different.
Finishing is about comfort.
When writing feels heavy, readers leave early.
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A lot of online writing feels like it’s trying to earn permission to exist.
You know what I mean?
It explains itself too much.
It stacks ideas tightly together.
It works hard to sound certain, polished, or impressive.
Especially when everyone starts accusing you of Ai.
You can feel the effort in the sentences.
They’re dense.
Maybe even dramatic in my opinion.
They don’t leave space for the reader to settle in.
The writer is doing a lot.
And the reader feels that effort almost immediately.
Once reading starts to feel like work, people quietly move on.
Not because they’re impatient.
Because they’re human.
The writing I finish almost always feels calmer.
It doesn’t rush to prove anything.
It doesn’t try to win me over.
It simply shares a thought clearly and lets it sit.
There’s no pressure to agree.
No urgency to act.
It feels like someone explaining how they see something, not how I should see it.
That tone alone keeps me reading longer than most tactics ever could.
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Another thing I’ve noticed is how rarely readers need background.
Writers often believe they need to set everything up.
They explain the context.
They justify the idea.
They try to make sure nothing can be misunderstood.
But clarity doesn’t come from more explanation.
It comes from better placement.
When the opening is clear, the reader relaxes.
When it’s crowded, they tense up.
Clarity buys patience.
Confusion spends it immediately.
Pace matters more than people think.
When every sentence carries the same weight, the writing flattens.
The posts I finish have quiet variation.
A short line that lands.
A pause that lets the idea breathe.
A sentence that feels like it didn’t need much editing.
It’s not dramatic.
It’s not flashy.
It’s calm.
And calm writing tends to hold attention without asking for it.
Endings are another place where readers quietly leave.
Not because endings need to be clever, but because they need to know when to stop.
Some writing keeps talking after the thought has already landed.
You can feel the hesitation.
The uncertainty.
The writing I remember ends when it’s done.
Not with a push.
Not with a question.
Just a sense of completion.
That feeling stays longer than any closing line ever could.
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It’s easy to blame external things when writing doesn’t land.
Timing.
Platforms.
Visibility.
Sometimes those things matter.
Often, they don’t.
More often, it comes down to whether the writing feels human or strategic.
People finish what feels human.
They skim what feels engineered.
That difference is quiet, but readers sense it immediately.
I don’t think better writing online comes from learning more techniques.
It usually comes from removing things.
Extra explanation.
Extra urgency.
Extra effort to sound a certain way.
What’s left is simpler, but stronger.
And simple writing tends to stay with people longer.
