Discussion Etiquette Suggestions

You are not alone; years ago with the advent of emails -- I was rudely informed that CAPS was yelling. Someone had to tell me -- I didn't know.

Sometimes still I have to lookup online what abbreviations/shorthand is when someone sends me an email.

I suggest a lot of forum and online reading. Do what others do, I guess. Stay out of religious and political discussion (here or anywhere else for that matter). Have fun and welcome aboard.

The highest and best level of all editing before posting is to trim all repetitive stuff out.

Some folks are very direct and economical with their writing.(the last two lines are the same, one could be trimmed) Everyone appreciates that.

SOMETIMES -- call caps is for emphasis. But if ITS ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME THEN ITS SHOUTING.. ECHO ECHO ECHO.... But that's about it. You can do bold and italics but that's not worth the trouble.

For sign language I only know a few gestures, but its all in french and some italian, and tends to get me into trouble.

A different language is when they abbreviate everything or talk strictly in picture. Like i'm supposed to somehow know the eggplant comes before the pumpkin but not after the poop. Its simple stuff we learn in school... What is the past tense of a pineapple? Who knows.


----Mike Savad

LA, so glad I'm not alone on this.

Ed, last fall I started reading discussions here so I've learned a little for a slower learner sometimes. I can avoid religion pretty good. I try not to be "political" but I am an environmentalist and spent my entire adult life working at poverty wages and am currently involved in local civil rights campaign so it seems like everything I think do or say seems political even when I'm trying not to be political.

David, all I can say is thank you thank you thank you and thank you.

Mike, "call caps" I thought there was a word for that I couldn't remember. And I looked at discussion where I thought there was "call caps" but it was boldface instead which I don't know how to do and I guess I thought it was kind of the same thing.

Funny thing too though is with my eyes and on cellphone print size your capitalized words are easier to read and more pleasant than the other ones.

When you run into abbreviations, Google is your friend. I've been an IT system admins and analyst for 30 years and I still run into unfamiliar terms and abbreviations.

Mike is spot on about the the use of CAPs. That goes back to the pre-internet day when people used bulletin boards to communicate. Typing quick conversation works fine mostly, but unless you are a writer, it lacks the ability to convey meaning and emotions that come easier with face to face encounters.

THIS IS SHOUTING

This is emphasis

Just never type like this:

MiKE ThE WondERFUL

when people think its funny to make it randomly cased like that, its hard to read gives others headaches and became a temporary rule not to do that. Yet I still see it in some places. Why people think that looks good is beyond me. Its nearly impossible to read.


----Mike Savad

The hardest thing about a text "conversation" is that your tone can easily be mistaken by the reader since we tend to read our own emotions into it. This means you need to be extra vigilant about being civil... and even then you will sometimes be taken the wrong way.

Regarding the abbreviations I often have to google them to find out what they mean and I have been online for years.

Yikes! I don't want to have to learn code!

Abbie, that assumes code can even be used. Back in the bulletin board days, it was straight ASCII. No HTML to pretty it up. Everyone had to convey thoughts with what was available. That's still the standard I've seen on most forums.

Shelli, exactly!

Chuck, thanks. I usually figure if they close with 3 or 4 capital letters I can't figure out since it's not too important I just let it go.

Abbie, as the woman who taught me recently that there is a magic button on my cellphone that makes paragraphs I'm sure you can guess I don't know how yet to make boldface or italics. For my eyes on the cellphone print all caps and boldface are my preferred for ease of reading. And you're still the favorite college professor I never had.

Mike, I agree with you on that.

Shellie, thanks I have learned people can easily take things the wrong way not intended......which is something to work on. Of course if you say "I hate broccoli" than broccoli lovers like me might be offended because we did understand you. And until I feel it really really important to learn abbreviations I'll let go but glad to know you're still looking them up.

See? If Floyd can do it, anyone can do it ;)

No offence meant, Floyd

These are the discussion rules:

https://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=260080

Abbie,

RE:..."This is emphasis"


When I use "emphasis" I do it with capital letters plus a couple of exclamation points / marks.


That's when I think I have something important to say, and I want to shout to the world

But the world online sees that as shouting... I don't make the rules.... Oh wait

Just don't make it complicated.

Oooh! Abbie, thanks for explaining how to do bold!

Just always remember the last piece of code. That closes it off totally

Italic

Occasionally you will see asterisks for *emphasis* if only plain text can be used.
Common ones I took a while to get

Lol - laughing out loud
Rotfl - rolling on the floor laughing
IMO - in my opinion

if you look up internet acronyms you'll get a lot of these solved.

I used one recently in that blue sky thread I started... ICYMI= in case you missed it

then there are these

YMMV = your mileage may vary

IMHO =in my humble opinion

that is all I can think of right now.

Adding: funny on my hubby, he thought LOL meant love you lots. ROTF

Oh yeah! there is LMAO = laughing my -ss off

HG/WAHGOA!

Gil, I read them a couple times and I remember the rules say I am not supposed to say "hey Mr Bird you are a complete and total ******* and I don't even know what a ******* is but I know you is one!" so I won't do that any more I promise.

Roger, I'm with you.

Abbie,........."I don't make the rules.......oh wait."

David, thank you thank you and ...

Rose and James, how about bold asterisks? My brain still wants to capitaliz ....bad brain.

I knew lol cause even I couldn't avoid that one forever thanks.

Shellie; I like "love you lots"....can we change it?

(Hey great/what a helpful group of artists!)

Another common one
tia - thanks in advance (usually when you ask a question in a forum)

I always seem to hear - "you can be a real PIA".... Which of course means In Spanish, "pia" can mean "curious" or "inquisitive," and can be used to describe someone who is eager to learn and explore new things. So I agree.


----Mike Savad

Mike,
ThiS iS SoME IN-JoKE foR AVId SpoNGE BOb FAnS
I learned that on Reddit years ago, it means more or less that what you write is meant to take as irony, if I remember correctly...

bold, italics - just trying it out to see if it works here - on many sites it doesn't

and it seems to have hit a glitch here too??? Started but didn't stop - thought I'd closed it off, but will try again (sadly it doesn't do anything until you dive off the board ... bold and now ...