Fancy Shmancy Mathematics Part 1: Deterioration Effect · 8:03pm Oct 12th, 2011
Hello, everypony! Author Tempus here with a quick lesson in mathematics! Today I'll be telling you about something I like to call the deterioration effect. Or, in lamen's terms, tl;dr syndrome.
Most ponies will think that tl;dr syndrome only occurs within a single block of text. That assumption is incorrect. The deterioration effect is actually more accurate in its name for this reason.
The deterioration effect states that the more sections something is on the internet, as in the more links you have to click to finish something, the less likely it is that somepony is going to continue on.
For example, if somepony were to make a three-part series on YouTube, the first video would have the most views, even if all three videos were posted at the same time. The second video would have slightly less views, as ponies wouldn't bother following the link to get to the next video.
I have noticed this trend in written works as well.
One of my stories, "Sweet Dreams are Made of This," currently has three chapters. When one looks at the total number of views of each chapter, they can see that the first one has the most, the second one has the second most, and the third has the least.
And that, my fellow Equestrians, is the Deterioration Effect. I hope you enjoyed today's installment of Fancy Shmancy Mathematics. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Or night, depending on when you're reading this.
