Enhancing Professionalism and Communication Standards in Online Forums

Dear professionals,

First of all, I am truly thankful for and sincerely appreciate everyone who has been sharing their valuable experiences and knowledge with us. This helps us enhance our knowledge and gain clarity on any discussed topic. I hope for the same commitment in the future as well.

However, I have noticed that some individuals post their discussions or queries very casually without paying much attention to the spelling of the words. It does not reflect well on us as professionals; we should strive to be perfect in all aspects. Therefore, I kindly request those who are doing so to pay attention while posting threads. A few seconds of attention can make a significant difference.

Let's work together to make the site as valuable as possible.

I would appreciate your comments on this topic.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. S.K. Singha,

Well said, Sir, and we shall follow your advice.

With Regards,

Mobile: 9025792684

Dear SK SINGH,

Thank you for highlighting this issue. I agree with you completely. Just a look at the 'thread lists' in any forum will reveal that what you say, "I can see some people post their discussions/queries very casually without even paying much attention to the spelling of the words," is true. Even simple or technical terms are misspelled in the title of the thread itself. Many of these errors do not seem to be typographical but reflect on the poor knowledge or casual attitude of the poster. I hope members do read this and take note.

Warm regards.

Dear SK SINGH,

Thank you for highlighting the issue. I have avoided giving inputs on many occasions because I cannot understand the queries. Posters must understand that in order for others to help them, they have to start posting a decipherable message.

Regards,
Autumn Jane

I agree with your plea. I do take care of these things. But in the era of the internet, everything has been rewritten, and netizens have invented their own script to communicate. What we see on this forum is just a bit of it. At social sites, the language is really tech-rich in terms of cyber talk. That, too, is a decent and contains all the antiquates. If you search the net, you will find it very interesting. Also, look for how the antiquates have been defined and how the people who cross the limit are punished.

It is just to show you a new script emerging out of cyber communication. It is owing to the ease of writing on the keyboard. And it is interesting too. One wonders how the brain of people works.

Anyhow, I don't mean that we should resort to that only. It is always good to stick to literary English.

Hello SK Singha,

It's very pertinent that you have raised this point.

I recollect mentioning this aspect in response to quite a few postings: If you want the right answer, you need to ask the right question. And this obviously also includes the language used, since the basic purpose of a language is to communicate coherently and clearly.

I sometimes wonder if some of the members of this really good forum understand the purpose of putting their queries in understandable English or do they think that all of us are stressing this aspect to 'show off' our English? I sincerely hope not.

I also would like to include in this category another type of member: One who posts a query and then totally forgets about it—at least that's the impression that comes across when the person who posts the thread doesn't even respond to those who ask subsequent queries or answer the query. If the query wasn't that important that he/she can't even spare time to see and acknowledge the responses, why post them at all? It's unforgivable that they don't think others' time is valuable too—maybe more than theirs.

Rgds,

TS

Whilst I appreciate that English is not the first language for many members and can overlook mistakes in grammar and sentence construction, I do, however, take issue with people who write in SMS language.

I get the impression that many members here are keen to improve their English language skills, and I applaud that. It is a part of our professional development that we all should be striving for.

What is NOT professional, though, is writing a message using SMS words and idioms. We are professional people, and our writing and language should reflect that. Additionally, writing properly gives members who are not so literate in English a chance to see good writing and assists them in developing their own language skills.

I know some members will say, "well, it is just a quick way of sending a message," etc. Maybe, but it belongs in an SMS message on your phone, NOT here.

Sadly, SMS has made people very lazy and is leading to younger people becoming quite illiterate. This does not bode well for the future.

English, like many languages, is constantly changing, and I recognize this. I am certainly not a person who lives in the past and advocates a strict adherence to the rather pompous and rigid rules of what is commonly referred to as "The Queen's English." Those days have long gone, and I say good riddance.

But let us try to keep our writing professional.

Dear All,

In addition to what Mr. Singh raised, I would like to request members to respond to the query raised on a particular topic of a member and not to raise a query (related or unrelated to the subject under discussion). If you have a query for which you need the response of members, please raise it separately and not club it with yet another query as some members respond to both queries and this misleads the forum.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

I am with you, John—FULLY & TOTALLY. Hope the Forum Super-Moderators/Moderators find a way to implement the rulebook, which I am sure is already there.

When we ignore those who use SMS language or raise new, unrelated queries in an already-running thread or initiate a thread and then totally and comfortably forget about it, we are only giving scope for others—especially new members—to repeat the same thing all over again.

Regards,
TS

I thank and appreciate everyone for the nice response. I truly agree with you. I do not know why people are correlating this topic with SMS. There is a reason why people use short-form words in SMS. In SMS, there is space constraint, whereas no such constraints prevail here. I have raised the topic just to pay a little attention when people post their threads so that it will look standard. We, as human beings, have the right to make mistakes, but if that mistake is intentional or being repeated, what shall we call that... crime?

My intention was never to pull the legs of others who are doing so, just to share the idea!