When making first contact, is it best to be brief or write something lengthy? There may be different schools of thought on this. What is the perspective from men and women on this?

I think brief. A short question linked to their profile.

Who cares what the humans think what about what the Monoliths think?

Yeah, who wants a flat and cold Monolith? Why not a nice Vulcan woman?

My vote would be for lenght, I want to know who the person is, since I already know what she looks like. Otherwise, why even type anything at all unless you really don't care that your date has no idea what to expect or even if he/she likes you.

I prefer length. not as in long, but something with personality, specific references to let them know you've read their profile as opposed to flipping by pictures.
On my pof profile i have a minimum of 50 characters in my mail settings.
Nothing like "hi, I liked your profile. Send me a message back". or "hi, where are you from?"
Those make my delete button finger happy.

ARE WE TALKING ABOUT SILVIA BROWNE'S PREDICTIONS FOR 2010 OR NOT?! SHE SAYS WE'LL MAKE CONTACT WITH ALIENS THIS YEAR! IVE GOT MY EYES OPEN SYLVIA BROWNE!! YOUVE BEEN WRONG BEFORE!

lemme go off on a tangent. one time i was driving through the desert of AZ in the middle of the night, i was the only one on the interstate, or even in that whole section of desert it seemed. suddenly a light appeared behind me and was flying, silently, over my car, matching my speed! i thought to myself, this is it!! and i pulled over and got out of the car, waving my hands in the air "abduct me!! abduct me!!" i yelled. then i looked closer and noticed some propellors. it was some weird government spy plane i think.

about the length, i'd say it doesnt really matter what you say, she'll write you back or she wont. i prefer to break the ice with something simple, and if they write back, bam! they get like a 5 page letter about my hopes, dreams, interests, and yadda yadda. eventually, they feel like they know me so well that they wouldnt have to bother meeting me in person and dating me, i guess...

ahh the sensual soothing sounds of Sylvia Brown. Voice of an angel.

lol

It's a mixed opinion of length vs. brevity. More input is need I think to form some consensus. Individual opinion is good, and we all have preference, but what do most people really want to receive? What do most people really want to offer?

Size matters, but technique wins the day. As in any artistic endeavor, engage as many senses as possible, as elegantly as possible.