[httpsterio]

Sans serif fonts are more used on body fonts, because they're more legible on screens. On paper, it's the opposite. Text size plays an important part here, because the serifs in serif fonts makes the letters stand out better on a smaller font size and the serifs "guide" you to the next words, making the paragraphs flow better together.

With HD screens and proper font rendering, sans serif fonts are generally faster and easier to read. These are just some of my observations when doing A/B testing on a few products of ours and there's definitely also a cultural effect at play here. But the poster above isn't definitely in the wrong.

[string]

That's strange to hear, in my experience serif fonts are most definitely used more for body text (referring to paragraphs of text) on sites where legibility is a primary concern. Look at the websites of almost any well designed news outlet (Bloomberg, NYT, Guardian, Reuters, etc). I say this as someone who previously worked for a type foundry that has worked with major organisations on corporate type projects and now works as a web (and occasional book) designer/developer.

[vosper]

> Look at the websites of almost any well designed news outlet

Is it possible that some of this is news-site-specific, due to their heritage as print media, and an online design aesthetic that references (or harkens back to) that?

[string]

Yes definitely, this is what I understood by the cultural effect httpsterio was referring to. I still stand by my statement though, I've had far too many meetings discussing this exact topic.