The impenetrable screed

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I agree with returning to a thread with a distinct title is easier, but sometimes it's hard to shorten the title without it being an incomplete sentence (depending on what the title is).

The software which allows only a minimal amount of charactors in the title is often a problem for me. I find myself having to shorten words and eliminate words. I find that this causes my titles to partially or not accurately reflect the content in my OP. This subject came up a couple of years ago and the near unanimous conclusion was that the title length was just fine and any issues were due to lack of skill. I am less bad at it then I was but I still struggle.

^

I deleted what I originally typed as it just sounded like an attack on Bea , I prefer the way you put it.

I don't mind those "what does this mean?" titles. They hook me.

Autistics often have issues figuring out what NTs tend to lay between the lines in conversation. So that title does communicate well that "what follows is a question about some turn of phrase someone in my life uses".

And about title lengths: not everyone is a newspaper quality editor who can figure out how to distil a title down to a pithy headline. So I can deal with those titles that...just keep on going in the original post...even if they are a tiny bit irksome.

But on the other hand. YES: do try to break topics down into paragraphs. And if you can: don't cram too many topics into one post in the first place. Save some topics to start later threads.

One peeve I do have is how young folks will either use slang, or use acronyms, in original posts without explaining them. They think that they have to be cool, when in fact clear is more important than cool on a site like this that has every age group (old fuddy duddies like me), non native English speaking foreigners, and even young native speakers who have no friends (because they are autistic) and don't know their own peer group's teen lingo.

Make a thread as long as you wish. Those who want to read it will, and those who don't want to won't. I've made a long one or two, and I usually preface it by saying it's long in the title. I always welcome those who want to take the time to read it to do so.

Normally, I don't respond to these Ann Landers-types who post threads like this one, but I find this "suggestion" to be more of a directive.

No, it doesn't sit well with me.

Yeah ( yes ) , that does my tits in ( I find it irritating ) when some whippersnapper ( a young person who annoys older people by being very confident and acting like someone important. ) is thirsty ( Trying to get attention) and posts something sick ( Something that is cool ) but it gets awks (Awkward) because you're accused of being a creeper (Someone who is socially awkward or tends to have stalker tendencies) and it's all bye Felicia (A disrespectful way to dismiss someone who is unimportant)

Bea is trying to be helpful.

Surely getting your point over is more important than digging your heels in and not bothering to think about how your writing comes over.

This might be a reason why some on here have problems getting job interviews for example. If your application is a screed of rambling, unedited paragraphless text your application will be filed in the trash.

You've hit the nail on the head for me , I couldn't put it into words but I think it irked me because I saw it as a directive. Maybe it's just you & I who think that?

I think the length is less of an issue than how reader-friendly the formatting is. As Bea noted, some of these posts feel impenetrable. And I think some posters take it personally if they don't get much response, or they wonder why not enough people care about their struggles, but they don't stop to realize how difficult it can be to understand them. It would benefit some of them to look at the range of posts on this site to see how other people communicate so that they are more effecting in getting their needs met.

Exactly. It's easy to get defensive, but that won't make anyone sympathetic to your pain. It's just going to sound demanding and self-centered to your audience. I think a lot of us here, myself included, can have difficulty with getting to the point versus spilling out a life story, but it's a necessary skill to learn to communicate clearly and directly as needed.

If they themselves ask: How come no one reads/responds to my posts?, then that would be a fair response to them.

My reply here was for someone reading this post and questioning every thread they've started or will start. I don't want them to get hung up. I encourage them to write what they feel.

It appears that way. A few seem to think I'm offended at the "suggestion."

Personally, I don't care who reads/doesn't read what I write. I said what I said for others reading this thread, (perhaps such as yourself) who might feel needlessly self-conscious about things they've written.

After all, this is just an Internet forum, not your last will and testament.

The OP does it on purpose and even felt the need to point out her sig in a recent thread.

yep , that's why I posted.

Let me give a couple of examples of impenetrable screeds.

One is the young or perhaps recently diagnosed Aspie. He gives every aspect of his life difficulties and how they affected him in a "wall of text" format. It reads more like a diary than a conversation. He is obviously wanting some input from others, but often gets zero replies. Often I read about a third with the intent to think about his situation and advise or comment, but I just don't have the attention span to do the situation justice.

Another example is when someone has a well-thought out philosophical position, and there may be a basis for discussion; but there are so many novel terms (neologisms, really) and unrecognized assumptions that answering it feels like a college assignment. Typically I do start to read it, but then realize the piece's demands exceed my interest in meeting the author halfway. Judging by the low number of responses, that is true for most other participants as well.

I don't even attempt to read these screeds. If anyone else wants to and writes a reply... then that's good.