Name: Anonymous 2012-04-05 13:30
I have noticed a decline in the writing standards by many forum members over time, and it seems this decline has accelerated lately in step with our rapidly growing membership. Very basic things like capitalization and punctuation seem too much trouble for many to bother.
These matter.
This forum is a nice place to be for many reasons, but one of them is the high quality content. I don't want to see our home reduced to chat room style stream-of-conciousness text messages, and I know many members who agree with me. And far too many members drift away because this erosion in standards makes it less of a place they want to stay. Here is an important point: Most of the people driven away by this are far more important to the community than those joining who have low standards. If I must choose who to keep, it isn't a hard choice.
I also don't want to be an English teacher. I don't want my job as administrator to be correcting people's text. I want people who care enough to correct themselves. I do, re-reading and editing multiple times before I post. The 'Preview' button is my best friend and gets pressed far more than 'Submit'. And I'm far from perfect, I routinely find myself editing my old posts when a link or search brings me back to them. For all my editing I still miss things. I do, however, care about the quality of my contributions and want others to as well.
These matter.
This forum is a nice place to be for many reasons, but one of them is the high quality content. I don't want to see our home reduced to chat room style stream-of-conciousness text messages, and I know many members who agree with me. And far too many members drift away because this erosion in standards makes it less of a place they want to stay. Here is an important point: Most of the people driven away by this are far more important to the community than those joining who have low standards. If I must choose who to keep, it isn't a hard choice.
I also don't want to be an English teacher. I don't want my job as administrator to be correcting people's text. I want people who care enough to correct themselves. I do, re-reading and editing multiple times before I post. The 'Preview' button is my best friend and gets pressed far more than 'Submit'. And I'm far from perfect, I routinely find myself editing my old posts when a link or search brings me back to them. For all my editing I still miss things. I do, however, care about the quality of my contributions and want others to as well.