I think we are losing the battle against "text talk" postings: A long string of text with no punctuation or paragraph breaks and lots of misspelled words.

It is sometimes difficult to understand the questions being asked and also hard to read.

Also, thread titles like "HELP!," "Problem," and "Codes" give little info into what the poster wants.

I refuse to read either type of thread from now on.
Vector

 

Although I also deplore the use of 'text talk', I do discourage members from using it rather than choosing to ignore such posts. If the Moderators and Regional Coordinators don't set the example then the forum will certainly degenerate.

The core of members who are the major contributors to the forum all submit well structured posts on technical issues. This generally rubs off on the less frequent posters.

From a moderating perspecitve, a subtle hint by inserting line breaks and replacing excessive 'text talk' usually has the desired effect and a PM succeeds where this has failed. In only one instance has a member replied telling me to 'f**k off'' which I accepted as his text speak resignation from the forum and obliged with a permanent ban.

Unhelpful thread titles are an ongoing concern. When we spot them, Moderators do edit or expand them to be more specific. This benefits the original poster because they get more Views and Replies; it also helps members because they can be selective in topics that interest them. For any we miss, a PM is always welcome to draw attention to the relevant thread.

Graham

 

Graham,
OK, I will jump back in with both feet, again!
Vector

 

Vector, I agree wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately it's fast becoming the way of the world it seems. I do believe in general that we have resisted this and holding it at bay to some degree.

My personal pet hate is a post of 500 words, all ran together with no punctuation to speak of, very difficult to read and or understand. Generally I don't bother.

I have in the past edited these to include line breaks and or have also edited certain thread titles too.
It's an ongoing battle I'm afraid

 

Beat you. I've been doing this for a long time now.

I also do not attempt to help those who have shown themselves
to be argumentative or prone to smackdowns in other threads,
whether or no they uses walls of text.

They can drag it out for fifty posts and it matters not to me,
even if I have the answer they are flailing about trying to find.

In virtual as in real life, I won't throw someone under the bus,
but it is also my choice as to whether I reach out to steady
them if they slip.

ps. It seems that the UK version of our space seems to manage
to be civil and friendly without much overt effort. It is not
quite as busy, but one is less likely to want to shutdown the
browser window when reading there.

 

Allot of new younger members are coming on board. (Unfortunately I am not one of them). Don't give up on them, most will come around immediately if reminded to do so. A PM rather than a public smack down will do it in most cases I would presume.

 

UR2KIND

 

Yes Yarpos, very funny, made me nearly spill my coffee all over the keyboard, thanks!

 

1 thing 2 say :

You also spill the beans when you wrote the message above , spilling coffee might be harmful to your keyboard than spilling beans over it