Must be a slow news day. I wish folks would stop treating this forum, and many others, like they had a 140 character limit when they ask a question. I always feel like they are snapping their fingers expecting an answer with no introductions, salutations, nothing but a demand. "Stayed at X? Opinion?" For me it is just rude. God I sound like my parents when I was sixteen. Minor pet peeve and does not mean the person is a bad person or anything.
PS: it always begs me to be snarky back.
Hdg to europe 4 three weeks-thoughts?
Slow news day, indeed!
My problem with those types of questions is I am not sure what the poster wants to know. Just not enough information to reply.
While on the subject of peevishness....
I would really like feedback from those who are writing the questions. Just a simple thank you would be nice, and polite.
That is all.
Thank you.
the short questions don't bother me. It is the abbreviations that some use, or family terms for certain things, that no one else in the world understands and then they get upset when you ask them to explain what they mean.
There must be a balance. I'm guilty of being too wordy and have to try to be cognizant of the posters who say they hate to read through densely worded questions and replies.
I've had to learn to break things down into paragraphs in hopes that people will stick with me.
I appreciate complete questions but am not too fond of 500-word essay questions.
Love bullet points and paragraphs.
Hate use of shortcuts like "u." Not texting, not Twitter. Whole words and sentences are nice.
This is cathartic...and so is being snarky (on occasion).
Unfortunately those that need to read this post probably never will.
Ann, I agree with you. That's my pet peeve too, people that ignore the efforts of responders.
There was a thread about this about a year ago and many people said... I don't need a thank you... I don't respond w/any expectation of a thank you.
That's not the point, I think not aknowledging a person that took the time to respond is rude.
They don't have to thank each and every poster, just a general "thank you all".
It's about appreciation and good manners.
Very true Jenc.
err,,,, Thank you!
I don't need at "thank you" but I do expect some kind of feedback on the responses---mine and others. Otherwise how would we know the person even read the answers to their question? So people treat the forum like a chatroom with instant communication. Then they never come back to see all the information provided.
But my real pet peeve is the question, " which would you choose and why." The "and why" reminds me of way too many tests in high school -and college.
What Lola said: I want to know what they did and what worked!
It's not a slow news day.
No, but we can pretend it is. TV off, fingers in ears, la la la la.
I am innately wordy. It takes me hours to edit something down into a coherent, concise post. When I have a chance to be less wordy, I take it.
This is based on several years of working as a forum moderator. I quickly learned that many people (at least in those forums) did not read much beyond the first 100 words.
But I understand what you are saying.
I find that the posters from India tend to abbreviate in a twitter sort of speak most often. Not sure why, but I assume that is culturally more acceptable there in online forums for some reason. I think they mean no harm :).
Zoe - No need to shout!!!!!!
Yeah that is a knucklehead approach when asking for advice;
But like you said slow news day.
Yikes, I will try to fix it! Oh the heck with it. Deleted.
It's sometimes hard to help people when they have chosen a user name (are they a man or woman--sometimes that's pertinent to the question asked) or don't indicate their location. I expect they feel the need to be incognito for some reason. This doesn't apply to regulars, after a while I've read enough and remember their particulars.
People have hit most of my peeves:
Using abbreviations without spelling out what they are first, often i have to go look them up;
Not writing in paragraphs i find it difficult to follow and lose interest; and
Those, by their questions like "where should I go" it is obvious that they haven't done any basic research before submitting a question.
While on the subject of peevishness....
I would really like feedback from those who are writing the questions. Just a simple thank you would be nice, and polite.
That is all.
I agree with that statement; though to be fair, one sometimes forgets about an asked question for a while.
If people have gone to the trouble of researching something for you, the least you can do is thank them!
It's good to see a fully formed request that provides some context. I am not too keen on overly broad requests like "I'm going to Europe, what countries should I visit?" Q: "Has anyone been to Spain?" A: No, no one has ever been to Spain. O.k. I would never actually respond in such a snarky manner but I can fantasize about it. It's common courtesy to have done some basic level of research before posting a question, not real fond of "what hotel should I stay in in in x city" posts. (Buy a guidebook, and/or go to booking.com). What area should I stay in posts are reasonable though. Also, overly detailed questions where people are asking to you to critique their hour by hour itinerary, I'll pass on those. BUT I do try to give the newbies some slack. I'm not going to rip into folks who post things like that, I just don't respond. I try to avoid snarky responses, more than enough of that already around here.
Love this thread topic and responses. Sorry to have missed Zoe's earlier input!!
I posit that a lot of people are posting from their smart phones, thus the short, incomplete questions. It also seems that they consider it a form of Alexa, just ask a general question and see what pops up, then forget about it. It is surprisingly difficult to ask a perfect question that needs no further clarification or details. The interaction is what makes the forum valuable. The "Thank you" is just a way of saying "OK, got my answer. We can close this topic and move on."
Sam,
Bixby tells me you are correct :)
