Spealing Matterz

[willmtaylor]

I recently flagged a thread for having a misspelled title, but in the response, the mod said there was nothing wrong with it.

It is disappointing that someone whose responsibility it is to make sure the forums run smoothly, abide by rules and guidelines, and are generally “kept up” doesn’t have an issue with misspelled thread titles.

I am not a grammar nazi, and, in general, I ignore spelling mistakes especially if obvious that the poster had a typo or is an ELL. However, I’m baffled that a mod, when a misspelled TITLE is brought to their attention, wouldn’t take a second to correct the issue—especially if it means a forum search would yield better results for users with similar issues.

That is my site & forum feedback.

Case & point below:

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

I agree with all points of the above post.

 

[MasterControlOp]

I recently flagged a thread for having a misspelled title, but in the response, the mod said there was nothing wrong with it.

It is disappointing that someone whose responsibility it is to make sure the forums run smoothly, abide by rules and guidelines, and are generally “kept up” doesn’t have an issue with misspelled thread titles.

I am not a grammar nazi, and, in general, I ignore spelling mistakes especially if obvious that the poster had a typo or is an ELL. However, I’m baffled that a mod, when a misspelled TITLE is brought to their attention, wouldn’t take a second to correct the issue—especially if it means a forum search would yield better results for users with similar issues.

That is my site & forum feedback.

Case & point below:

View attachment 831475

The OP can edit the title right? Maybe PM to them and they would just fix it themselves.

 

[GGJstudios]

... especially if it means a forum search would yield better results for users with similar issues.

This is a good reason to care about spelling.

 

[willmtaylor]

This is a good reason to care about spelling.

I mentioned it after flagging a second time. It was dismissed, as it, “Didn’t violate forum rules”? SMH.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I recently flagged a thread for having a misspelled title, but in the response, the mod said there was nothing wrong with it.

It is disappointing that someone whose responsibility it is to make sure the forums run smoothly, abide by rules and guidelines, and are generally “kept up” doesn’t have an issue with misspelled thread titles.

I am not a grammar nazi, and, in general, I ignore spelling mistakes especially if obvious that the poster had a typo or is an ELL. However, I’m baffled that a mod, when a misspelled TITLE is brought to their attention, wouldn’t take a second to correct the issue—especially if it means a forum search would yield better results for users with similar issues.

That is my site & forum feedback.

Case & point below:

View attachment 831475

Not only am I in complete agreement with the general point you have made, but I will add that if I had started a thread that was erroneously and inadvertently strewn with spelling mistakes, I would be more than grateful if someone drew my attention to this, so that I could correct the error, or errors, if I had failed to spot them myself.

 

[GGJstudios]

Knot onlee am I in complet agreemunt wtih the genral poynt ewe hav mad, butt I will ad that if I had startled a thred that wus aroneusly and inadvirtenly strune with spelig misstakes, I wud bee mor than greatfull if sum1 drue my atenshun two this, sew that I culd coreckt the eror, or erorz, if I had faled to spaht them myslef.

Fixed it for you. Yer welcom!

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

In the past, I have had a thread title of mine edited by a moderator to make it clearer what was in the thread. It also happened to make it easier for people to search for the thread later. This was without even informing me of the change. It just happened.

And yet, in this case, nothing.

 

[willmtaylor]

In the past, I have had a thread title of mine edited by a moderator to make it clearer what was in the thread. It also happened to make it easier for people to search for the thread later. This was without even informing me of the change. It just happened.

And yet, in this case, nothing.

Yup. I'm honestly baffled. Also strikes me as odd that no mods have chimed in here either.

 

[annk]

It's a matter of time and priorities.

I care a great deal about spelling and grammar - I've had a side income as a translator/proofreader/copy-editor for several years, so I can't help noticing mistakes and clumsily-worded posts. If I have time, I might change a title (never a post) to fix a spelling or grammar error that I feel can lead to a misunderstanding, or improve hits in a search.

But I might also leave the title alone. It can be embarrassing for some to see that their thread title was changed, because it can be experienced as an implicit or even passive-aggressive criticism. Or I simply might not have time, because the time I have to spend on MacRumors that day is easily taken up with investigating complaints and drafting responses to contact messages.

So the response that a misspelled titled didn't warrant change isn't far off the mark, at least seen in light of how much work there always is to do, and what needs to be prioritized.

I agree with the poster who suggested sending the OP a PM, and asking them politely to fix the error. We certainly don't mind reports about spelling errors, but depending on what else needs to be done, we might not be able to give those reports priority.

 

[chown33]

...
So the response that a misspelled titled didn't warrant change isn't far off the mark, at least seen in light of how much work there always is to do, and what needs to be prioritized.
...

I'm not being pasive-agresive, but I smilled at taht typo.

 

[willmtaylor]

It's a matter of time and priorities.

I care a great deal about spelling and grammar - I've had a side income as a translator/proofreader/copy-editor for several years, so I can't help noticing mistakes and clumsily-worded posts. If I have time, I might change a title (never a post) to fix a spelling or grammar error that I feel can lead to a misunderstanding, or improve hits in a search.

But I might also leave the title alone. It can be embarrassing for some to see that their thread title was changed, because it can be experienced as an implicit or even passive-aggressive criticism. Or I simply might not have time, because the time I have to spend on MacRumors that day is easily taken up with investigating complaints and drafting responses to contact messages.

So the response that a misspelled titled didn't warrant change isn't far off the mark, at least seen in light of how much work there always is to do, and what needs to be prioritized.

I agree with the poster who suggested sending the OP a PM, and asking them politely to fix the error. We certainly don't mind reports about spelling errors, but depending on what else needs to be done, we might not be able to give those reports priority.

As always, I appreciate your level-headed and well-constructed response.

However, I can’t understand how a mod “wouldn’t have the time” to change a thread title when they did have the time to type out a response as to why my flag didn’t warrant any action. How can the latter consume more so?

As someone who learns languages as well as teaches them, it doesn’t make sense to me that mods of a site would prefer inaccurate and inefficient communication for the sake of possibly hurting a users’ feelings—I know I always prefer to know my mistakes as opposed to “not having hurt feelings” at the sake of being incorrect. This is no way to live (much less run a site).

Furthermore, when I’ve seen the vitriol that IS allowed in MRF, it seems nonsensical to not quickly and covertly change an honest mistake which (as demonstrated) directly affects users’ abilities to find and use information seems bizarre (is that not the point of these forums?) When potentially hurt feelings supersede the effectiveness of the very point of the forums’ existence, I think it’s safe to say we’ve lost our way.

Again, thanks for taking the time and listening. All the best.

 

[annk]

I'm not being pasive-agresive, but I smilled at taht typo.

As always, I appreciate your level-headed and well-constructed response.

However, I can’t understand how a mod “wouldn’t have the time” to change a thread title when they did have the time to type out a response as to why my flag didn’t warrant any action. How can the latter consume more so?

It's not a matter of one action taking less time than another, but rather the total workload on any given day + a general decision about how to allocate moderator resources. The example you use has a great deal of automation and does take less time/fewer clicks. In addition, there's the fact that this is a site with users from all over the globe, and unless language/spelling/punctuation problems actually interfere with other users' understanding of what a poster is trying to say or ask, we've chosen not to focus on language mistakes.

As someone who learns languages as well as teaches them, it doesn’t make sense to me that mods of a site would prefer inaccurate and inefficient communication for the sake of possibly hurting a users’ feelings—I know I always prefer to know my mistakes as opposed to “not having hurt feelings” at the sake of being incorrect. This is no way to live (much less run a site).

Personally, I can't help noticing language problems and wanting to fix them. So I get where you're coming from. I do however understand the reason for the decision (about it being a site with users from all over the globe). And I'll point out that in cases where there actually is a problem understanding a user, I've often seen that users will say so politely, ask the user to clarify, to use punctuation to make the post easier to understand, etc. That's within the rules, because users aren't able to understand the post. The rule against pointing out language errors only applies when there's no real problem with comprehension.

It's hard for me to understand being embarrassed about having a language problem corrected, because I appreciate it when my mistakes are pointed out. It gives me the opportunity to correct them - I'm more embarrassed when the mistakes are allowed to stand! But it is a fact that some people don't feel comfortable about their writing or command of the language, and that corrections can make them uncomfortable.

Furthermore, when I’ve seen the vitriol that IS allowed in MRF, it seems nonsensical to not quickly and covertly change an honest mistake which (as demonstrated) directly affects users’ abilities to find and use information seems bizarre (is that not the point of these forums?) When potentially hurt feelings supersede the effectiveness of the very point of the forums’ existence, I think it’s safe to say we’ve lost our way.

Again, thanks for taking the time and listening. All the best.

Again, I understand where you're coming from and I do see your point, but the policy here has been not to correct language mistakes for users, for the reasons mentioned.

 

[willmtaylor]

It's not a matter of one action taking less time than another, but rather the total workload on any given day + a general decision about how to allocate moderator resources. The example you use has a great deal of automation and does take less time/fewer clicks. In addition, there's the fact that this is a site with users from all over the globe, and unless language/spelling/punctuation problems actually interfere with other users' understanding of what a poster is trying to say or ask, we've chosen not to focus on language mistakes.



Personally, I can't help noticing language problems and wanting to fix them. So I get where you're coming from. I do however understand the reason for the decision (about it being a site with users from all over the globe). And I'll point out that in cases where there actually is a problem understanding a user, I've often seen that users will say so politely, ask the user to clarify, to use punctuation to make the post easier to understand, etc. That's within the rules, because users aren't able to understand the post. The rule against pointing out language errors only applies when there's no real problem with comprehension.

It's hard for me to understand being embarrassed about having a language problem corrected, because I appreciate it when my mistakes are pointed out. It gives me the opportunity to correct them - I'm more embarrassed when the mistakes are allowed to stand! But it is a fact that some people don't feel comfortable about their writing or command of the language, and that corrections can make them uncomfortable.



Again, I understand where you're coming from and I do see your point, but the policy here has been not to correct language mistakes for users, for the reasons mentioned.

Thanks for taking the time and for the thorough explanation.