First, what is tl;dr? Depending on your take, we have:
- too long; didn't read
- too lazy; didn't read
Personally, I like #1. Too lazy is pejorative and implies the reader had the time and interest to read but couldn't muster the energy to do so - the drive. Lazy Piece of Shit. While, I believe, more often than not, the title was interesting, captured my interest, but seems too long and overwhelming. (is that a comma laden sentence or what?). This is when I would like a tl;dr. I open an article and look at the scrollbar to see a teeny, tiny miniscule, little thing that lets me know: Get Ready it's A PIECE. And I'm like - "cat's poop, I just wanted to know why white tigers are actually blue."
We'll leave #2 where it belongs: in the slang laden silliness of the internet which will maybe allow it to disappear into obscurity to be mentioned rarely and always with a questioning glance by those around that clearly tells the user: “como? que?”
So, if we now agree that tl;dr means that the article is too long and I do not want to read the whole thing but I am interested in the gist of it, where does it go? Because that's the issue, right? Too many (more than less?) put it at the bottom of the piece. Like, wait, did I just read the whole thing and I am now reading the tl;dr? That's…stupid.
tl;dr ≠ summary
If you put a tl;dr at the bottom of the article, you didn't tl;dr it, you summarized it. You did a quick wrap-up of the article you just read (or scrolled by???). these are the takeaways and what I, as the author, hope you were able to learn or glean from this beautiful stringing of words. The most beautiful stringing of words. In fact, Andrew Lock | .NET Escapades, a blog that I read does something similar. He writes very comprehensive and detailed technical posts. He starts with a short intro. Does 30K words of material and then summarizes at the end. Under the Summary header. Maybe because he's an actual author and not a $5/post writer (no offense, just spittin' the facts).
Plastic Water Bottles are Killing You
tl;dr: Studies show that micro plastics from water bottles are released as a plastic bottle (or any container) age, starting day one. Those microplastics make it into your blood and brain with life-threating consequences that we're just beginning to see. Use glass, stay healthy.
Article begins and explains in detail, cites studies, etc.
The tl;dr told me the gist and now I can continue reading the material or go back to infinite scroller of choice.
The Spolier Effect
Some would decry the tl;dr at the top of an article as a spoiler. You will now know that the Plastics Kill. Yeah, I suppose that's true. But if you're writing that style of story, where you use intrigue, secrets, the slow unraveling of a climatic reveal to tell a story, then does your piece ever benefit from a tl;dr? Like, seriously, would you say:
tl;dr: The husband murdered the wife and fed her to the neighbors as hamburgers.
Use storytelling components that make sense and use them correctly. tl;drs do not spoil stories that should not be spoiled.
tl;dr
wait…gotchu!
Summary
If you want to provide a tl;dr, do it at the top so the reader knows what they're getting into and determine if they need the breast and thigh or is the wing enough.
If you want to wrap up your article at the end, call it a summary - that's what it is.