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Dear Ms. Netiquette,
Can you please remind people that when they want to chat in a full room, they need to specify who they are speaking to?
For example, many times when I am in a full Everyone Wins Bingo room, someone will type “Thank you for wilds” into chat. But they don’t always say the name of the person. How are we supposed to know who they were speaking to unless they say so?
The game flies by quickly and I think most people are focused on getting those bingos. I have actually responded to chat thinking I was being addressed and I wasn’t – it’s just that another player has a similar name. It can be a little embarrassing, so unless someone says “Thank you, (Screen Name)” or addresses the entire room, I don’t automatically assume I am being spoken to. I have learned that the hard way!
Thanks a million!
Speaks When Spoken To
| Dear Speaks When Spoken To, I would be delighted to remind folks that if you want to say thanks to a specific person in a room, your message will be a lot more effective if you include a screen name, or some indicator of who your gratitude is meant for. Perhaps a few people will take heed. Unfortunately, my reminder won’t likely change the behavior for most. So, what do you do? You can always politely inquire about who might be the recipient of said thanks. You could also just assume every unspecified “thanks” is directed to you and simply say “You’re welcome!” any time you see one. Although, while that might be funny for a little while, I think that it would likely get old quickly. Your best bet, if you have reason to believe the thank you was intended for you, is to say something along the lines of “if that was for me, you’re welcome” and leave it at that. If it wasn’t for you, then the person typing it may recognize the need to be more specific in the future. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I was in Crossword Cove the other day. I noticed in the chat that many players were giving the answers in the chat area. Another player posted asking politely that they please take it to private chat if they wished to continue supplying the answers to others. He stated that he did not want the answers and it was disturbing his game. A barrage of attacks started. They stated that if he did not like it, to turn off his chat. When he stated that he was working on a challenge and did not want to turn his chat off, they told him it was just too bad and to stop whining and told him he was not the chat police, etc., etc.
I thought about reporting this, however, I wasn’t absolutely certain if it was against the TOS. I believe it is, and if it isn’t, it should be. Wouldn’t this be considered cheating? And if it was reported, what exactly would happen to these members?
A Confused Bystander
| Dear A Confused Bystander, I referenced the Terms of Service, to which every single person on Pogo.com agrees to by signing up, and found the following statement within the list of no-nos:
While giving answers in chat is not specifically covered, your friend can make a case that providing the answers to a puzzle in open chat interferes with his enjoyment of the game. He can file an Abuse Report on those providing the answers, and our Customer Support team will look into it. However, that does seem a bit drastic over a bunch of people interacting socially. It’s a bit tricky. Maybe they’re all just playing the game together and making a friendly event out of it? Should they be punished for it? I don’t think so. It’s a bit like a bunch of friends looking over the same Crossword Puzzle and trying to figure it out together. So, before making a report, I would recommend that he simply say: “Guys, please keep the answers out of the main chat” and hope that they abide. If not, then he might want to employ the “mute all” feature by typing “/mute *” into chat. That will mute everyone in the room. To unmute players, one can type “/unmute *”. |
Hello Ms. Netiquette,
I was wondering if you’ve ever covered Netspeak in your column in any capacity other than listing the various abbreviations people use. Specifically, the overabundance of it!
I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I always make every effort to respect my fellow Pogo members by communicating with them in clear English. I understand and accept that people like to use certain abbreviations, and I don’t usually freak out about them by any means, but boy, it seems like there are some people who can’t type a single word without abbreviating it! In the back of my mind (I’m going to get slaughtered for this, I’m sure) I can’t help but read between the lines: “You’re not good enough for me to put in the effort of real communication. In fact, I’d rather you put in twice the effort just to attempt to understand me.”
To show you an example of the extremes I mean… after a particularly nice game of Bingo the other day, one of the people in the room spewed the following into the chat room: “vgge1 njp wd tye14wds glng” Goodness! It took me twice as long to read and decipher it as it would have were it in plain English! I had to turn chat off just to stop myself from losing track of my speedy 5-card game because of having to moonlight as a cryptologist.
I do understand and recognize that there are people with disabilities that makes typing very difficult. These people would need to shorten as many things as possible. However, I run into this far too often to write everyone who uses excessive netspeak off as disabled. What’s the deal? Doesn’t anyone else appreciate the value of clear communication and proper English anymore?
-Signed,
I Swear I’m Not An English Teacher
| I Swear I’m Not An English Teacher, I definitely feel your frustration, and would roll my eyes at “vgge1 njp wd tye14wds” myself. And having just typed that, I can say it took me longer to “netspeak” it out than it would have to simply type it all out. Personally, I tend to spell everything out myself. But that’s my personal preference. I’m a fairly good typist and it’s just easier for me to spell it all out. But, I’m also a realist. And the reality is that people use netspeak on the Internet, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. Many people who appreciate and value clear communication engage in netspeak online as they find it’s just easier and more efficient to do so. The bottom line is that netspeak is here to stay, and you, my dear, are better off pouring yourself a nice hot cup of tea and accepting that fact than attempting to fight it. It’s a battle you can’t win. You’ll have to adapt one way or another. I, personally, find that if I’m having a one-on-one conversation with a high-powered netspeaker, simply letting them know I’m not all that familiar with netspeak solves the problem. They switch to full words, and I can understand it. In cases where someone uses netspeak ad nauseam, like in your example, I’m happy to just ignore them. If they have anything important to say to the general audience, they will likely type it out. |
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