Use Of Punctuation In A Post And What Is Annoying or Confusing

[JaneYoung]

Yes, it's me again, writing about an area that can help or hinder communication.

We are about to get busy again in ChiefDelphi and I've been noticing some uses of punctuation that were either annoying or did not help with communicating the thought or the information.

Here are a couple of suggestions that I have. Please feel free to add your own suggestions that you think will help with written communication. Also, please keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes and that no one is perfect. That's an interesting part of being human.

One is the overuse of exclamation points (!!!) in a thread title and also in a post.

'HELP!!!!!!!!' does not tell the reader a thing in ChiefDelphi. It doesn't define or describe the topic. All of the exclamation points leads one to think that the OP (original poster) is in a hurry or a panic, making a loud demand but not being clear regarding the nature of the problem. This slows down the process of actually being able to help the situation.

There is rarely a need for more than one exclamation point. Anything over that creates unnecessary drama or attention.

Ellipses (...) Understand their purpose. (Look it up.)

I am guilty of using these too much. I like them, hoping they show that I'm still thinking while writing or that my thought can be continued and is somewhat open-ended. Overuse of these creates confusion. Is every sentence open-ended and in need of being continued in the thought waves that we generate? I don't think so. Periods (.) serve a purpose that helps to clarify our writing and limit the run-on sloppiness that can occur and create chaos.

It is always a good idea to draft a post in Word. If it is a long post, it is even more valuable to do that. Then copy/paste into the thread here in CD. That provides an opportunity to read and edit until your post reflects what you are thinking in a way that reflects well on you, the writer.

A couple of thoughts as we move towards our busy season in CD.

Jane