Pages

Before & After | Blogging Through Time

Has Google Blogger discovered the secret of time travel?

It seems it has, according to one of its blog setup and handling instructions. Here's what Blogger says:
Before
Enter a comma separated list of up to 10 email addresses to have your blog mailed to whenever you publish. 20 words
Does your current blogging platform allow you to "have your blog mailed to whenever?" Think about it. You can post a blog today and email it to 2015, 2027, 2063 ...

Blogger doesn't actively promote this time-travel feature, but perhaps it should. The possibilities boggle (or should that be "bloggle"?) the mind.

There is another option.

Perhaps this feature simply allows users to enter a list of email addresses, so each newly published blog post is automatically forwarded to the designated recipients. If this is the case, Blogger might want to execute a few quick edits. For example:
After
To automatically forward blog posts as they’re published, enter a comma-separated list of up to 10 email addresses. 18 words
The original Blogger statement suffers from two problems: 1) hyphen omission and 2) the prepositional phrase "to whenever."

Hyphen elimination is a popular trend touted as language simplification. In reality, missing hyphens often muddy the message and force readers to work harder to understand what’s been written. Adding a hyphen (“comma-separated”) is useful and efficient, because it indicates the two words are to be read as a single unit.

When used properly, small prepositions and lowly little punctuation marks are incredibly powerful tools. I'll write more about these issues soon, but meanwhile, you might want to see The Mighty Asterisk for an example of how one minor element can create unintended consequences.

Has Blogger cracked the time-space continuum code? Inquiring minds want to know.

_____________________________________

Related
The Humble Hyphen
4 Ways to Write Better, Right Now
SEO | Is Google Sending Fresh Signals?