Does Correcting Your Grammar Cause You Stress When Using This Forum?

[Ambience]

I've found that correcting my grammar when I just want to vent is very stressful when using this forum. I think there should be a area for people to vent where spell check and structured writing is not required. I feel this is an important part of expressing oneself. I feel like correcting people's grammar even though done with the best of intentions to make everything in order on here, is quite destructive for this forums cause, which is to be a community to help you connect with others with similar experiences etc.

It is a hinderance in my oppinion, especially for people who are emotional like myself. It put me off this forum at first and made me want to create one of my own where there were no uncomfortable rules and regulations. I appreciate there needs to be moderation, but there is a difference between people who are completely incohearant and others who aren't. Also i'm sure as a community if someone feels they can't understand someone posting, they would ask " What does that mean?" , and the posting would continue.

It feels quite degrading that someone would consider my english unacceptable and I am from England. I'm sure that foreigners who struggle would find this forum even more difficult. I also received A's in my english, but choose to write in a way that feels comfortable to myself, that is also easily understood. The philosophy of language may be a standard in the UK, but it is still a philosophy of communication and I find it quite offensive when someone takes offense to the way I write.

I don't see that writing i is any different to writing I.

Okay I'm venting again and I'm not getting at the moderators, just making a point here that I think that alot of people would like addressing , not just myself. I don't feel it's right to impose your standards on others, as alot of people here have sufferered abuse, I'm sure the last thing they want is to feel forced to do something. This is how i felt. It is a trigger for me, being forced. Perhaps this is why I feel so strongly about this.

So with regards to grammar , i'd like to ask - how many feel that the moderation regarding this is over the top!? Surely the forum should be about community values, not the moderators values alone? This is not an elite forum is it , I'm sure you would agree. I'm sure this wasn't intended to exclude, but it did me, so i'm sure that are others like me who have felt excluded because of this.

Thanks,
Ambience x


Please state any other views. I'm really interested in other people's perspective on this matter. Thankyou.

 

[catjudo]

I don't feel it's right to impose your standards on others

I don't feel it's right to impose your lack of standards on others. The forum has a set of rules and guidelines that have been developed over the years based on what works best for the majority. When you join the forum you agree to abide by the existing rules. If you don't like the rules you can choose to join (or create, as you stated was your wish) another forum whose rules you do like.

 

[Mina]

I think there should be a area for people to vent where spell check and structured writing is not required.

There is. It's called your trauma diary. Last I knew, you were allowed to write however the heck you want in it...someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
[DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/forums/40-Trauma-Members[/DLMURL]

 

[gdf]

Personally, I feel more secure with the rules in place (even the ones that seem "picky" because they provide continuity and structure) and sometimes correcting wording or grammar can make something a little clearer.

Gina

 

[Nicolette]

Hi Ambience

As I am writing this via a phone it is difficult to quote so please bear with me.

Firstly, you say you were an A grade English student so you obviously have the skills to write in a manner which is in accordance with the forum rules (which you agreed to).

Secondly, the point of this rule is so people can read what you write easily in the first instance rather than going to the trouble of asking you 'why' and then you having to write it again for a second time. Seems a little unproductive if you ask me.

Thirdly, flexibility is given in your personal diary so you can vent to your heart's content there.

Finally, if you agreed to the rules and are as astute as you profess to be; why the big deal? I second what Catjudo posted above.

I trust with your knowledge that you realise rules have a purpose and if they work for the majority they actually then serve their purpose. I would suggest you invest this kind of energy into your healing rather than on topics which have already been proven & agreed upon by the community.

If you have a query I suggest the better tactic is to go to 'Ask An Editor' rather than portraying yourself as a potential member who has more interest in causing upheaval than healing IMHO.

 

[Ambience]

Okay , my post is not a personal attack on the moderators. It's just my feelings. There was proberbly not that much logic to what i was writing at the time. After a few more vodkas, i feel composed. It did get my back up abit this forum that's all i'm saying, other forums dont. I'm a valued member of many forums, on other subject topics, including spirituality, anxiety, and goal setting to name a few.

Are you sure these things work for the majority, have you ever had a poll on this matter? This was my reason for the poll.

I do agree to abide by the rules, but i still am wondering why this forum has rules that are far stricter than other forums- i.e like it's run by english teachers, rather than moderators who have experienced trauma themselves. Again this is just my view.

I noticed that there wasn't really another forum on PTSD, which is why i thought i would post this. Of course i can't be bothered with creating a forum like this, my boyfriend is a successful computer programmer and would be happy to do so for me, but it doesn't interest me. What interests me is understanding why these rules are so strict and put in place, what rational reasoning is behind why I can't write i ....rather than I if i wish to. As this is not hurting anybody. If you consider i have a lack of standards- is that what this forum is about standards of grammar?

My boyfriend stated it's probably not the best thing writing an emotional response on this forum, especially since it's aimed at the moderators, as being a successful forum owner himself, he would press the ban button, and maintain his elite tribe of people that he allowed to post on his site. He would consider someone like me dumb for posting this. Even so i'm challenging the status quo here for a reason. Personally, my reasons for this poll are about the empathy and compassion of the moderation team in relation to peoples grammatical mistakes. Shouldn't we be more gentle on each other? Shouldn't we be more understanding of peoples differences and also if someone doesn't write in a way that's pleasing to us, why should we censor this. What happened to freedom of speech? Shouldn't we be practicing tolerance, rather than intolerance. Just a few suggestions.

I have a personal gripe about this as a suffer of PTSD, and i don't feel it's being addressed that's all. The reason being , i was held hostage in relation to my abortion, and i was made to do something I didn't want to do. Here I am being made to write I instead of i. Can you see the trigger? I was distressed that's all i'm saying, now we are debating this.

Why isn't there an inbuilt spell checker?

 

[Ambience]

There is. It's called your trauma diary. Last I knew, you were allowed to write however the heck you want in it...someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
[DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/forums/40-Trauma-Members[/DLMURL]

Ah okay, i didn't know this. Thankyou for that.

 

[Ambience]

Personally, I feel more secure with the rules in place (even the ones that seem "picky" because they provide continuity and structure) and sometimes correcting wording or grammar can make something a little clearer.

Gina

Having suffered at the hands of organised structures, I find the rules that seem unneccesary, very uncomfortable. That's my personal view. That's why I was so interested to post this tonight. I do understand if this helps you that's a good thing. I also didn't like it when I joined the forum being monitored before I could become a trusted member. It gave me a sense of distrust about the forum, in the moderators. You want the moderators to be your friends, people who will look after you, not people who are checking up on you to see if you write anything wrong. Yes I found it very disturbing. Again just my view, but surely other people have felt this.

 

[Ambience]

Okay I Admit It I Have Bad Spelling

Does that make me not worthy to be on this forum? I have this habit of writing i instead of I. Does that mean I can't be here long term, that there is no where for me to go regarding ptsd? Sorry to vent like this, but I am distressed about this. It's uncomfortable trying to change a habit of a lifetime and it makes me feel bad.

 

[kers]

I would not come here if there were fewer regulations on spelling/grammar/punctuation. (I find plenty of irritating errors as it is!) These rules make it possible for me to read and understand what others are trying to say. If you write poorly paragraphed, difficult-to-decipher messages, people cannot communicate with you.

In fact, these regulations are in place partly to facilitate precisely that kind of communication--short paragraphs are encouraged, for example, because we all get overwhelmed and disoriented so easily. Most of us, if we can't understand a message, will skip right past it. The rules are no different than you would find in any other area of public communication. Yes, it sometimes mean breaking habits (even I can get used to 'i' instead of 'I' sometimes), but it's worth it for us to be heard by one another.

 

[gdf]

If you use Mozilla Firefox it will have a spell checker--or at least it does for me.

 

[Ambience]

Hi Ambience

As I am writing this via a phone it is difficult to quote so please bear with me.

Firstly, you say you were an A grade English student so you obviously have the skills to write in a manner which is in accordance with the forum rules (which you agreed to).

Secondly, the point of this rule is so people can read what you write easily in the first instance rather than going to the trouble of asking you 'why' and then you having to write it again for a second time. Seems a little unproductive if you ask me.

Thirdly, flexibility is given in your personal diary so you can vent to your heart's content there.

Finally, if you agreed to the rules and are as astute as you profess to be; why the big deal? I second what Catjudo posted above.

I trust with your knowledge that you realise rules have a purpose and if they work for the majority they actually then serve their purpose. I would suggest you invest this kind of energy into your healing rather than on topics which have already been proven & agreed upon by the community.

If you have a query I suggest the better tactic is to go to 'Ask An Editor' rather than portraying yourself as a potential member who has more interest in causing upheaval than healing IMHO.

I do have the skills,but my habit is to write i instead of I. I know it sounds petty, but i do it almost unconciously now. I don't want to have to leave the forum over such a simple matter to go somewhere more tolerant. It seems silly. I know it may be unproductive to write again, but this site shouldn't be about grammar and productivity, it's about touching people's souls with compassion and love isn't it? It should be about tolerance, understanding, listening , appreciating and giving a little leaway to each other to express ourselves, giving the users of the forum, the trust, the respect to honour each other appropriately. If you breed fear in people, you create a forum that is intolerant and hostile and unforgiving. If you love and accept everyone as they are without trying to change them, you can see a humanity in people that could not exist in the alternative environment.

What i'm saying is that this environment I expected to be a sanctuary a place I could reside and feel safe and instead of outcast. I wanted to come somewhere that would be forgiving and loving and understanding. If you don't allow for mistakes you don't allow for growth and there is so many people here who could grow together, but are infringed upon via rigid rules and standards. Why is there no leaway for trusting others to communicate to each other effectively without jumping on them at the slightest mistake in grammar.

I agreed the rules I still do. I'm just saying I don't like them, not that i won't abide by them. I'm explaining why. I may be wrong , I may be right, guess it just depends who's shoes your in.
I practice reiki for myself and love healing. I love psychology and helping people.

If I have portrayed myself as a potential member who has more interested in causing upheaval- again this is your perception, because if you could see the truth, you would know i'm a 26 year old girl/woman, that is suffering and needs help and empathy , not chastising like a school girl for getting her spelling wrong. I am challenging the forum moderators out of love, even though I may lack tact perhaps.