Do forums like this one make written communication skills more important?

[AaronPollock]

With more and more business people using forums like this every day, is it becoming more important to communicate effectively in writing? Many people go through their entire lives with poor written communication skills, and that's fine if you get by. No snobbery here. When your income's on the line though, do you make an extra effort. Is the need to write well becoming more important than before because of forums like this one?

Some people post in threads in very long grabled sentences and pargiraffes sometimes in very small print for some reason which seem to rant on for ever there's not even any punctuation and I thought programming was hard and deciphering some of the posts on these forums I mean you'd need an MBA or something and when you do make sense of it it's impossible to take them seriously. But.

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I dont care !!I have been running this business for a while .I know waht I need to do to run it .
My membership of this forum is simply to communicate with other people in the same situation as me .Im not out to impress anybody on here and I dont expect anybody to go out of their way to impress me ..

I hope to learn from others on here and share what I have learnt from all mistakes I have made ..:D

I will use the spell check when dealing with customers ect but I really dont feel the need to do so when conversing on here .I consider it a laid back and freindly resorce where you dont have to put up a front ..

[Onehourpa]

I think it depends what your business is. For example if you are a copywriter or proofreader and you are constanly making posts littered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, it may make people question your abilities. Having said that I agree with Jeremy in that the forum is a place for people to discuss situations and issues of interest to business owners. So I don't look too carefully at people's posts in terms of spelling and grammar and I expect some typos, the forum is about communicating so if people understand what you are saying does it really matter if you mispell something?

Outside of the forum I believe that spelling and grammar are important if you want to convey a professional image. I'm amazed by the number of marketing emails and letters I get that have spelling mistakes or poor grammar in them. I even received one the other day where somebody had mispelt something in the subject header. Not a good first impression.

[JustOneUK]

Some people post in threads in very long grabled sentences and pargiraffes sometimes in very small print for some reason which seem to rant on for ever there's not even any punctuation and I thought programming was hard and deciphering some of the posts on these forums I mean you'd need an MBA or something and when you do make sense of it it's impossible to take them seriously. But.

Hehe... liked that one too. Lots of funny people on the forum right now, must be Spring :)

I don't really care what I write because I can't read :p


James.

[The Glassman]

The ability to communicate clearly is key; spelling and grammatical errors are forgivable; not making a conscious effort is punishable by ridicule.

[Subbynet]

"Do forums like this one make written communication skills more important?"

"Is the need to write well becoming more important than before because of forums like this one?"

This adds a healthy dose of irony to the point you wanted to make. You phrased this question terribly, and not just once, but twice.

Yes I know my post contains mistakes, feed me to the Lions if you so wish.

[safia]

Hi,
I think the laid back feel is great. It excercises my brain decyferin peoples messages including my own.:D

[AaronPollock]

There's a big difference between those of us who sell to consumers and those, like me, who offer B2B services. If you run a local retail business, for example, your customers are unlikely to read what you post here.

I read a long thread by Martin (nextdayflowers.co.uk) yesterday about his business challenges from almost closing last year through to being a successful growing business now. This is something a B2B business would find it harder to do on a business forum, which is often a pity.

Perhaps it's the same where spelling, grammar, etc. are concerned. Making a good impression is important wherever your customers might show up.

[Mister B]

LOL. Gets me every time.

Mister B

[adam]

Mistakes happen and it is not the most important thing on a forum of like minded business people but if someone repeatedly doesn't know the difference between their, they're and there for instance this does make me think the person is uneducated and perhaps unable to do a decent job.

Of course it depends on what I am wanting them to do but I think you should try and make the effort.

Not saying you can't put in variations like c u soon or thnx but please just make a little effort.

I cannot spell check on the forum, there may be some mistakes but the attempt is there and the respect has been shown to others whom I am asking to spend their time and read my posts.

[Matt1959]

badly written posts seem to fall into 3 catagories. 1) rambling and noncensical 2) blantant bad spelling by someone who cannot spell.... for example peddle instead of pedal 3) spelling mistakes due to lack of care or not being quite sure how to spell tricky words. Number 2 gets me as it kind of sends the message that the poster is quite illiterate which is a bit worrying if you are dealing with a professional.:) But anyway, for me, its only a forum and I'm not bothered (but usually ignore Number 1)

[JustOneUK]

badly written posts seem to fall into 3 catagories. 1) rambling and noncensical 2) blantant bad spelling by someone who cannot spell.... for example peddle instead of pedal 3) spelling mistakes due to lack of care or not being quite sure how to spell tricky words. Number 2 gets me as it kind of sends the message that the poster is quite illiterate which is a bit worrying if you are dealing with a professional.:) But anyway, for me, its only a forum and I'm not bothered (but usually ignore Number 1)
Isn't it nonsensical :p..... and categories :p .... and blatant :p

[Matt1959]

Isn't it nonsensical :p

almost certainly! my spelling has got worse over the years. On forums I don't bother as much as I should but in biz emails etc I never type something unless I know its right. But I do know how to spell pedal:)

[JustOneUK]

hehe... just cranking you. Like I care aboot spolling :D

[JustOneUK]

If I had £1 for everytime someone complained about spelling but had a spelling mistake in their complaint - I'd be RICH!!... RICH I tell ya! :)

[paultnl]

hehe... just cranking you. Like I care aboot spolling :D

I didn't know you were Canadian :)

[FireFleur]

I thought for a bit of fun, I would pass adam's post through an online grammar checker. This is not an attack on adam, but he went for the uneducated stance, so let's see:

between - among

am wanting - want

try and make - try to make

So, there we go, always something to learn.

Now I will pass this post through:

Oddly enough I am in the clear, but I would have cheated anyhow and fixed the problems.

http://www.spellchecker.net/spellcheck/

Actually I agree with adam, but it is not because I think the person is uneducated, it's that I will somehow pick up their bad habits. It is good fun to check your English over, but mistakes happen and if meaning is not too obtuse all is well. Yes, I did have bad grammar on the last bit :)

[adam]

I thought for a bit of fun, I would pass adam's post through an online grammar checker. This is not an attack on adam, but he went for the uneducated stance, so let's see:

between - among

am wanting - want

try and make - try to make

So, there we go, always something to learn.

Now I will pass this post through:

Oddly enough I am in the clear, but I would have cheated anyhow and fixed the problems.

http://www.spellchecker.net/spellcheck/

Actually I agree with adam, but it is not because I think the person is uneducated, it's that I will somehow pick up their bad habits. It is good fun to check your English over, but mistakes happen and if meaning is not too obtuse all is well. Yes, I did have bad grammar on the last bit :)

Nice one Fleur

There are many mistakes where people confuse "different from" and say "different to" and when to use who and whom etc but they are less important as an attempt is made and the person has spent some time on their message that they deem important.

Also grammar checkers are full of errors themselves and nor do they take in to account regional variations and the fact that people will type and be understood differently in different parts of the country.

[FireFleur]

Well the between one was interesting, to refer to only two items, that mistake is endemic.

Is there a standard? You mention regional dialect, how small is the region?

English is an evolving language, and it could go to the same characters being used for there, their and they're, there're ;) some calls for it to happen.

But, if you want a spell checker in your browser, FireFox has one.

[Subbynet]

Sorry, its nothing but pure unadulterated snobbery... Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Norman Foster - very much successful people, all describe themselves as Dyslexic.

"Correlation is not causation", so don't mistake "uneducated" with an inability to properly master the English language. Skills are broad, so to write someone off because of their writing skills alone would tell me more about your personality than anything else, and the manner in which you're susceptible to jumping to conclusions.

What is even more shameful is making these conclusions about strangers. (or "just having to mention it" - and not allowing it to pass unnoticed)

Here are a couple of snippets from the press...

Logan called the number who said they were dyslexic "staggering" and said it was significantly higher than the 20 percent of British entrepreneurs who said they were dyslexic in a poll she conducted in 2001.

UK Entrepreneurs twice as likely to be dyslexic

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/start-ups/article2879314.ece


There are around 40,000 members on this forum, that means 20% equals around 8,000 people. So the chances of you reading a forum post containing an error is actually pretty high!

So what are you going to do? Keep moaning about the standards? (Hopefully you'll STFU!!! :rolleyes:)

[JustOneUK]

So what are you going to do? Keep moaning about the standards? (Hopefully you'll STFU!!! :rolleyes:)

I think you'll find from the original post that it was more of a question than a complaint...
With more and more business people using forums like this every day, is it becoming more important to communicate effectively in writing? Many people go through their entire lives with poor written communication skills, and that's fine if you get by. No snobbery here. When your income's on the line though, do you make an extra effort. Is the need to write well becoming more important than before because of forums like this one?
Perhaps there's an observation of sorts mixed in there, but no complaint.
We're just discussing (as is the forum way) - please play nicely ;)

[Subbynet]

I think you'll find from the original post that it was more of a question than a complaint...

That really depends on which part you read... It starts off like a question, but lets not beet around the bush it ends as a complaint. The same complaint heard time and time again by the usual suspects.

[deniser]

It comes down to education. If you didn't get a good one then it will hinder you throughout your life. It's not necessarily your fault.

[AaronPollock]

It's alright. I can't get offended until I look up the abbreviation!

[tcg]

I find if I post in a rush and ramble, I get little response. A more structured post is better received. One that is too well structured and less human can kill a thread.

I cannot spell. I admit it. I was forever at extra spelling lessons at school. Helped, but did not cure :)

I do feel a structured post and argument is better received even if it does have a few "tricky" words misspelled. Participating in forums has helped me think on my feet (seat) while structuring responses to tricky responses.

The context and subject also have a bearing, as does the tone set by the people who have already engaged in a post.