Etiquette

When I got my first Windows-based computer back in 1991, the internet web browser was just coming out. I was a member of a few privately owned dial-up bulletin boards at the time, as well as AOL, Prodigy, and Compuserve. At that time it was as close to one could get to what is now known as the internet.

Each bulletin board had a FAQ forum or section and one of them was always entitled "Etiquette." With no exception, each and every one of them considered it bad etiquette to use acronyms (with a few exceptions), type in all capital letters, fail to use proper punctuation, or to write out their sentences. It was commonly known as "Bulletin Board Etiquette" or "BB Etiquette."

Then when the web browsers came around, the bulletin boards started dying and forums sprang up on the internet. All forums that I ever visited at that time had the same FAQ forum section, with the same requirements for etiquette.

Fast forward twenty years or so, the requirement for etiquette has disappeared completely. What happened?

Lack of education and discipline happened. Back then you had to have some level of education to even own or use the thing. Fast forward 20 years and you have every 8 year old kid and neighborhood thug on the internet. People have become lazy to the point that its too much for them to even hit the shift key.

I think much of this is addressed by most forums having automatic spell checks as you type. I also think that etiquette in general has disappeared from society.

About the same thing that's happened to our society in general.

Blame it on txt messages and chat room lingo. I'm not calling anyone out on this, but with so much of it being used, it's hard not to adsorb at least some of it. I'm guilty of it as much as anyone, it's just too dammed easy to do. I will be mindful of this in future posts, thanks to bringing it up billy.

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Originally Posted by AuburnEwaste

I think much of this is addressed by most forums having automatic spell checks as you type. I also think that etiquette in general has disappeared from society.

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I intentionally left out the spelling requirement, as well as the one for sentence structure. Unless my memory fails me, those two requirements weren't as prevalent. Besides, I personally don't think should be.

(In fact, every time I typed in "etiquette," I had to use my browser's built-in spell checker to correct the word. And I was diagnosed with what was known as a "Bright B" IQ as a child. That meant I was considered to be above average in intelligence capabilities at that time. I just got dumber as I got older.)

But I do think it's important because it carries over into real life. You wouldn't want to do business with me if I walked into your store or shop and rudely proclaimed, "Hey, you got any scrap?" Using bulletin board etiquette helps us hone our networking and marketing skills by making us better communicators.

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Originally Posted by billygoat

Fast forward twenty years or so, the requirement for etiquette has disappeared completely. What happened?

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text and chat

Is there an echo in here bear ?

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College Esaays! (ROCHESTER)
Well, to start out I go by the name of Felicia. I am a Stay at home mother with alot of spare time. A neighbor of mine currently attends to college in Buffalo State. Every week she bring me her information to type the essays and I Study the information and type ot for her. I helped her graduate from MCC last year, and I have her grades looking good as far as this year at Buff. State. I love english so this is what I do. Please email me if you would like me to type yours for you! i PROMISE you, I will Do The BEST I can do!

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This was a recent post on craigslist. Would you hire her? I rest my case.

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Originally Posted by billygoat

This was a recent post on craigslist. Would you hire her? I rest my case.

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half the people reading it probably don't know the difference anyway ; )

as far as spelling goes I like this one.
"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

^true^

yer some person wrote nome instead of home lol dont know who that was.

Paying attention to detail is something that has helped beat out the competition over the years.

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Originally Posted by billygoat

When I got my first Windows-based computer back in 1991.....Fast forward twenty years or so, the requirement for etiquette has disappeared completely. What happened?

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There has been a gradual shift in the paradigm where people just don't care about the fine details anymore. I started my online life back in the 80's on the Commodore 64 using BBS systems and AOL.. which back then went by the name "Quantum-Link" until they started to serve the IBM PC community.

Back then, if you couldn't properly use the English language, punctuation, etc. in typed text, you were usually ignored, shunned or otherwise considered a social outcast in most online circles. Now it's the exact opposite. If you go on some of these message forums where the majority of the people are of that "Millennial" generation, they think that YOU are the one that's stupid if you correct their incomplete sentence fragments and improper use of punctuation.

In fact I would say that because our society is much busier doing more things in less time, even people in the business community are starting to accept mediocrity in written communication. There used to be a time when the success of your resume depended on everything from the quality of the paper to your choice of words. Now they require you type it into a small website window where they just scan for certain key words. Many employers are too busy to even check to see if you can write your own name much less put together a group of words to make a sentence.

sense I have little formal education and am cyber challenged, I guess I'm not qualified to post on this forum..Yet I have never had any one refuse to sell or buy from me weather I spelled it steel or steal. I understand what your all saying but, some of us just have to do the best we can with what we have.

olddude, if you were to talk to me on the phone, you would probably think I was mentally challenged or something. That's because I'm hard of hearing and my speech isn't up to "other people's" standards. I commonly mispronounce words, since I often don't quite pick up the correct pronunciation or may have never heard them spoken in the first place. So in a way, we are in the same boat. The difference is that both you and I make an effort with the best we have.

(In fact, My hearing has dwindled to the point where I can't even use the phone anymore. All I can hear on the phone now is gibberish. I'm fine in person though. The difference is I can't lip read over the phone.)

I try to be good about not correcting others' spelling and grammar TOO much, although every once in a while scrapping spelled as scraping gets to me. I am, however, somewhat of a grammar and spelling nazi. Comes naturally, I was the annoying kid in elementary school that won all the spelling bees, LOVED to diagram sentences, and, yeah, I even used to play tournament Scrabble. A lot. Played in 2 national tournaments. Here's a link to my record (along with a MUCH younger picture of me!)

Historical Ratings - John Terrell

dang, Burly, you was serious, wasn't you ; )

or should I say, you were serious, weren't you ? haha!

Yeah, I used to be. Still love the game, but my blood pressure didn't like tournament play. There's a lot of the luck of the draw in that game, so the solution is simple; just know ALL the words! ;-)