AIBU in wishing that posters would write more clearly?

[ShakeShakeTheMuffin]

I give up on countless threads because the OP gives a long rambling account that I just can't understand. This drives me nuts!
My particular pet hate is a sentence that runs on for a whole paragraph with no punctuation.
I understand that people are often upset when they post but I still think they need to take care to ensure their message is clear.
Am I just being a grumpy fucker or do I have a point? or possibly both

just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had

That said, I don't reply to posts if I find them hard to read. I only ask for clarification if it's reasonably-clear-apart-from-one-point - if it's all unclear I just leave it and assume I won't enjoy participating in that thread.

I agree.

When challenged there is inevitably "dyslexia"

Or "I never learned at school"

All adults have the chance to improve their writing. There is plenty of support available. It seems too many take the "I was rubbish at school" stance and don't realise it's all about practice.

Not when you start new paragraphs without a space between them like you should have

The OP was perfectly easy to understand. I don't think there is any need for pedantry.

it's all about practice

Then you can think of the poorly-written posts as being that practice :)

The OP was perfectly easy to understand. I don't think there is any need for pedantry

Thanks Original :)

Glad a few people are on my side.

A lot of people have learning disabilities and are judged enough so do not need pedantry

I get annoyed by the overuse of strike-throughs.

But I don't think I've ever started a thread about my annoyance.

I remember reading one op that was tough to understand and the replies were all quite nice because it was obviously the ops second language. Except it wasnt and she couldnt understand why people thought that. I dont usually pull people up on it for all the usual reasons, but that was embarrassing.

Mostly I agree with you, but occasionally there is the gold of a thread like the T-Rex one that was actually improved by the vagueness.

@Boucle fair point! Except I quite like strike-throughs.

The Android app doesn't do paragraphs.

Even if they appear on your phone they disappear on your post.

So annoying.

My biggest hate is when I post something from the IPad only to find predictive text and sausage fingers have left a post that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

I shouldn't post unless I am using a proper keyboard.

This has frustrated me also. I’ve put it down to the poster being upset and/or frustrated at the time and made allowances. I’ve re-read many a post if I can’t get in I’ll move on. Plus, English and comprehension isn’t everyone’s strength

Most threads with a long rambling first posts are very clearly troll threads anyway.

"Plus, English and comprehension isn’t everyone’s strength"

Which is exactly why people really should try to write clearly. If you are dyslexic, or if English is not your first language, it if there is a barrage of txt spk and you are an assistive tech user, then it's seriously hard to deal with unclear English.

So when most people write plain English (with spaces between paragraphs) it makes the site way more accessible. The odd typo, or post by someone who makes SPAG mistakes, is far easier to deal with than a site where accessibility issues and plain old-fashioned consideration aren't part of of the ethos.

Some posters are in such an emotional state esp on aibu / Relationships Boards and have hectic disorganised thinking because of it. I have given up on at least 80% of the threads this Christmas because I'm frustrated by the fact threads often dont make sense or have gaping holes and inconsistencies. It becomes exhausting and counter productive so I move on to the ones about learning new words or what we ate for Christmas lunch!

OP I completely agree with you. There have been a number of posts over the last few days that are essentially a stream of consciousness which you’d have to read a few times just to make sense of.

I remember there used to be a few pedants who would re-write an OP with paragraphs etc and a smug HTH, at the time I thought they were being rude but honestly, I rather miss them now.

It's a skill, I think, to be able to read the long posts and to get the meaning
Sadly, some posters don't seem to have that skill

If I want to practice my interpretation skills I'll read some of the many science research papers I have to wade through. I use MN for recreation and am not prepared to put huge amounts of time and effort into understanding what a poster is talking about. If they want help they should make an effort to make it as easy as possible for the readers, or they risk people not bothering to read it at all.

There are plenty of threads on here where the OP rambles on and it's hard to make head or tail of what they're going on about. But I'm not one to judge posts like that, as I've also seen quite a few where the OP is clearly in great distress for one reason or another, and can't be expected to be thinking too clearly because they are at the end of their tether and desperately need help.

I'm quite highly educated with a good grasp of the English language, however I suffer mental health issues and when in crisis and most in need of advice I struggle to get my thoughts in order and string a sentence together.

The thought of asking for support is great, the idea of the pedantic son here tearing me apart prevents me from posting.

To be fair nixnjj, I doubt AIBU is the best place to post when you are in crisis.
There is also a pretty clear difference between those posters who are at the end of their tether and those who simply ramble on with the ‘he said then she said annoyed me cause I had already said’ type posts which I think the OP is referring to.

My English on MN isn't always well punctuated or spelt or have grammatical mistakes. I hope they are reasonably comprehensible.

I find most posts on MN understandable so IMO you are being quite unreasonable. I prefer a thread like this to anyone correcting or criticising within other threads which I find rude (unless the wording really is hard to understand ambiguous.)

I do agree that I wish some posts could be clearer. I think though that if people are particularly upset about something then their thinking can be jumbled for that reason and it can be reflected in their post.

I often don't respond to a post if I can't be sure I have understood it well because I would worry that it might cause me to say the wrong thing. Sometimes I might come back later to see if the position has become clearer, and might add something then unless what I have to say has already been said dozens of times by then.

I do read some long posts, but I give up on ones that are all in text speak, and/or with no punctuation.

Iloveruby

Yes I think that's it - there's is a massive difference between the " I am tremendously emotional right now and my brain is scrambled" posts and the "I said she said and then my MiL turned round and said to my DSis about something completely unrelated which you will only find out about in my seventh update" type posts.

"Sadly, some posters don't seem to have that skill"

That's correct. If English is nit your first languate or you are dyslexic you will almost certainly lack that skill.

Also, depending on what is gong on, if you use assistive technology it read, then non-standard English might be utterly impenetrable.

One of the great job tw of MN is how much is written in standard English. Something worth cherishing, though perhaps it's worth is not so obvious to those who don't have barriers to reading.