I think that members who generate long posts are frequently wasting their time. A lot of effort is placed into something that will be skipped by many people. I consider myself to be relatively patient but I often skip a post that is longer than about 25 sentences (rough guess).
On a related topic, some people seem (and I want to be fair, so I use the word “seemâ€Â) to argue by posting from other sources or by providing links to relatively lengthy articles. I would humbly suggest that this can a strategy of avoidance – evading the need to formulate a position in one’s own words. In my view, such a strategy can suggest an attempt to win a war of attrition with one’s opponent.
If Fred debates by constructing his own material and Joe responds by posting a lengthy article, Joe is “getting away with†less work than Fred and can “wear Fred out†even if Joe’s arguments are not all that strong. To be fair, as a person who rarely if ever posts other people’s material, I am perhaps under-estimating the amount of research that it takes to locate the material that is “cut and pasted†in by the "Joes" in this forum.
On balance, I think one’s credibility is enhanced by presenting positions in one’s own words, and in as concise a manner as possible.
To be fair, though, we (myself included) must remember that not all members have been given the same opportunity in life to learn to write clearly and concisely. Many of our limitations are due to things we have no control over.