SnakeWritingThatIrritatesTheCrapOuttaMe!!!

@ahgong (10064)
Singapore
September 30, 2008 1:41am CST
I have been trying really hard to clear all the notifications in my inbox due to my absence from mylot the past few weeks. Boy, do I have a lot of mail! And it feels like it is taking an eternity to clear them all. Well, As I was clearing out my mail box, I started to notice something. There are a few members here in mylot that refuses to use punctuations! And they love to write sentences that goes on and on and on and on. My goodness. Can you imagine trying to read the following: I got so many things to do this week and having to sift thru all my emails at a go it is really daunting I never expect my email to snowball so much within the short period of a few week it is really scary to know that if you let the mail box go unattended it will go wild and be filled up with so many mails mind you i always wondered how these spammers got their hands on my email address some of which I do not even share with anyone and I still get spammed amazing isn't it? As opposed to reading the same paragraph now: [i]I got so many things to do this week. And having to sift thru all my emails at a go it is really daunting! I never expect my email to snowball so much within the short period of a few weeks. It is really scary to know that if you let the mail box go unattended, it will go wild and be filled up with so many mails! Mind you, I always wondered how these spammers got their hands on my email address. Some of which I do not even share with anyone. And I still get spammed! Amazing isn't it?[/i] Imagine having to read discussions and responses of the former that is at least 5 to 6 times longer than that paragraph, all bunched together. Something my Primary school teacher would have termed snake writing. Where every word is bunched together into one endless sentence! I mean, it would be so much more inviting to be able to read something without having to squint your eyes. And trying to figure out what and where each sentence end is really tiring! So my fellow mylotter. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... do some paragraphing and punctuation to your posts and discussions. It would be so much more pleasant to read. And it would definitely be more inviting to people who are looking for discussions to respond to!
5 people like this
10 responses
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
Hello ah gong, In fact, MANY myLotters do that - this snake writing that you mentioned. I don't know why they refuse to use proper paragraphing or in the worst of cases, punctuation. Most people simply don't have the time and patience to slowly stroll over the words, especially if it is hideously long, to understand what the discussion starter is trying to say. 9 out of 10 times, I will skip such discussions. But there is another possibility that this is none of their doing. They might have been trying to instead be very careful and so they make sure to PREVIEW it first, but somehow they never got to understanding why after previewing, all the paragraphing disappear. They might have thought it is the same for everybody even though they have seen paragraphing elsewhere.
2 people like this
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
Indeed it does... try it.
2 people like this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
Really? The previewing will remove all the paragraphing? I only know that happens if you load a picture after you write your response or discussion. That is why I now make it a habit to copy my posting prior to my posting of a picture. Then paste back my posting after the picture is loaded. Otherwise, I will ensure that I load the picture first before proceeding to write out my post. But it would be great if they can at least use some punctuation. Like you say, if the post is hideously long and there is no paragraphing or punctions, I usually either skip them or put them a side to be reviewed later when I have the time and the effort to read them.
2 people like this
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
30 Sep 08
Ah, yes! I had forgotten about that! When you preview or write your text first and then upload a picture, the paragraphs disappear. I hate it when that happens! I was an English major and, while I don't get too upset when others do it simply because I understand it, I get really upset when it happens to me. It's one of those myLot flaws, I suppose. Hopefully, they'll correct that one day.
2 people like this
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
30 Sep 08
I agree with you. I majored in English in high school and in college. I'm always trying to use the correct punctuation, grammar, etc. But, with people from so many different countries who do not speak or write Engish well and people with many different educational levels here in myLot, I don't give it much thought at all. As long as I can read and understand what they're saying, it's okay with me. As far as English-speaking people go, it is a shame that so many people actually graduate from high school and don't know how to write these days. I've noticed it going downhill rapidly the past 10 years or so. My children both speak and write excellent English and only partly because I taught them how. The main reason is that I taught them to do their very best in everything they do. I stressed that it wasn't important to always strive to get "A's" in school because not everyone is excellent at everything, but to do their best. If their best was a "C", that was just as good as an "A" in my opinion, because they DID their best. These days, it seems that teachers are afraid of their students! You can't touch them or they'll sue. You can't punish them or they'll scream discrimination. It seems like school is just a place for kids to go and be babysitted these days. It's nothing but a social gathering for way too many kids. Of course, I am speaking in generalizations, you understand. There are still some kids who strive to get a good education. But, I've noticed that these kids are often ridiculed by their peers because they're not "cool". I actually pulled my oldest son out of school in the 10th grade because he was getting more and more depressed as time went on. He was picked on at school, he was made fun of. This was all because he is a conscientious person who actually CARES about others and himself. He went to night school and got his G.E.D. He's one of the most well-spoken and well-written people I know. I think it boils down to caring, plain and simple. If you don't care about yourself or others, you're going to do the bare minimum to squeak by. If you DO care, you may still not be 100% correct all the time, but it will show that you care.
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
2 Oct 08
Well, it is a matter of habit. The only reason I can think of why these people who so love snake writing, is simply because they do not care. Neither do they read their own posting after they write them. That is why you find so many long and meaningless topics. If you have to struggle thru a snake composition, if there is some thing interesting to read in it, you can still be satisfied and feel it is worth your while to read it. It is those long, no paragraphed, non punctuated passages that are meaningless that really makes you tear your hair out.
1 person likes this
@austere (2812)
• Philippines
1 Oct 08
hahaha i definitely agree!hhehehe
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
LOL, you are really funny some times. i love the discussions you've started. if i see a discussion like that, i'll just ignore it coz i can't be bother to find out what exactly it is all about. it has never occurred to me that i can start a discussion about it. back to long sentences before i digress too far. yes i agree that it's tough to read the whole thing. i've got to reread it at least a few times to get what it was about. guess you won't see me responding to any of those discussions. cheers ;p
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
2 Oct 08
hah hah hah hah hah... Thank you my friend applefreak! It has been a while since I saw you online. How is your course coming along? Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Usually I will scheme thru these long articles. They are after all, friends on mylot and they are friends in my list. So I will take some time to read them. But it would be greatly appreciated if they could at the very least add a line or two to break up the long monotone of the article. I guess when we get too engrossed with typing out an article or a response, we then forget that readability is also one of the criteria that will attract some one to read your posting too.
2 people like this
• Singapore
2 Oct 08
hi there, it's really been quite a while. i don't really have many classes to go to. in fact, the course is more like a distant learning thing. it's mostly assignment based so got to do TONS of research. i'm still procrastinating on my project. ;p i just can't bring myself to read sentences that are too long. i'd lose what i read in the beginning when i'm half-way through. i've got to go back and read it all over again. at this rate, i'll never finish reading it!
@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
haha.. YEah, i understand your woes here.. I always have alot of notifications to clear, and when it comes to discussions without any paragraphs or punctuations, i will get very frustrated too, because it's gonna be hard to understadn what is the actual discussion about.. haha More than often, i will spend more time trying to understand it, rather than spending my time on giving quality response.. So in the end, by time i'm done with the reading, my response will only be 1-2 lines.. haha And initially when i 1st joined mylot, most of my responses are without paragraph too because i dun have a habit of doing so.. haha =D BUt when i see all others are paragraphing their posts, and it all looks so neat, i decide to follow suit.. hehe
@xh4mou (3)
• Indonesia
30 Sep 08
well...i guess you're right... i think it will be so much easier for us to read if there are more paragraphs. God bless...
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
Exactly. It is just a matter of depressing the "enter" key every once in a while while typing. It is not a difficult thing to do. Yet there are some who are so against using it. Reminds me of people who like to drive and make turns without turning on their signal lights. I mean, the lights are there, so use it! Same goes for the "enter" key. No?
1 person likes this
• Singapore
30 Sep 08
Exactly, it is a world of difference!
2 people like this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
30 Sep 08
oh yes... i can't agree more with you on this matter... i also dislike people who write without punctuation and paragraphing... it is so hard to understand and we have to figure out ourselves where the sentences stop... it takes more time and effort to do that... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
2 Oct 08
You too agree huh? So, how often do you come across articles like those I mentioned? What do you usually do when you do encounter one?
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Oct 08
I agree, the "enter" and "space bar" were invented for a reason, so use them.
1 person likes this
• United States
30 Sep 08
What a great discussion. I do try to read through even bad writing and lack of paragraphs if it seems that the person is trying to say something worth reading. But... you're forgetting one reason for not htting the Enter key -- it takes a fraction of a second, and that slows down getting to the next penny. Hi yo Silver, up and away!
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
2 Oct 08
Aww... come on my friend! That half a fraction of a second will make the difference in your earnings?!? Think of it this way. When we are here, we talk to each other via words on a screen. Not punctuating is like listening to someone talking and talking without pauses or stops all in one breath. Sort of like those auctioneers at the barn sales selling sheep! "here we go we got the best sheep and it is going for one hundred dollars and waiting for people to buy it and we got a buyer there at the corner going for one hundrend dollars one hundred dollars any more bids going for one hundrend dollars and we got another bit at the other corner that find gentleman and the sheep is going for one hundred ten one hundrend ten one hundred ten any more bids and going for one hundrend ten one hundred ten and then we have one hundred twenty to the gentleman in black and we got one hundren twenty one hundred twenty one hundred twenty no bid for one hundred twenty one hundred twenty and going twice for one hundred twenty one hundred twenty one hundred twenty and going last for one hundred twenty and SOLD to the gentleman in black!" Phew! How you like to read that? I mean, it is near impossible to try and have a conversation with people like that. Same goes here as well. Human have a very short attention span. If the first ten sentences or ten lines of an article is not interesting, they will stop and move on. And you as the discussion starter would have lost one potential response that would have gone on to add to your earnings. No?
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
1 Oct 08
hi ahgong as we are not all James Joyce with his stream'of consciousness writing, we should use paragraphs. I am one who does tend at times to forget to paragraph. Also I am guilty of long sentences. but I will mend my ways, I promise. I had been off line for awhile and had a thousand some emails to sift through myself.
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
2 Oct 08
ha ha ha ha ha... I am not an expert myself in grammar. It is just that when you are reading posts here, with the long ones, it is really very difficult to digest. You do not have to really think much about the paragraphing. As long as you are making a different point, put it in a new paragraph. When you are writing down your thoughts, if there is a short pause, put a comma down. If there is a longer pause, put a semi-colon down. And if that point is complete, put a full stop. It is that simple. No one is gonna be saying you are wrong with your punctuations. It is just that, with punctuations, it just makes the discussion and responses so much easier to digest. Hope you can quickly sift through your mail soon and get back to being active here in mylot. Good day!
1 person likes this