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Subject:RE: Formality is going bye-bye? From:"Dubin, David" <David -dot- Dubin -at- sage -dot- com> To:Collin T <tutivillus -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Tue, 7 Feb 2006 12:20:34 -0500
Here is one man's (very jaded) opinion. (Bringing out soap box)
It seems to me that there is a "dumbing down" of communications at every
level of American society. Collin refers to it as a trend towards
informality, but I see this as a much more insidious threat to our culture.
It goes hand in hand with our children's inability to read and write at
grade levels consistent with the Flesch-Kincaid reading index or understand
math beyond basic arithmetic.
I don't know how the school system in your state/county/district works, but
our school board in Pinellas County, Florida, wants to do away with the
valedictorian and salutatorian because they don't feel it is fair to the
other students. And we wonder why Americans cannot compete in a global
economy. (Putting away soap box)
Sorry, I had to vent.
David B. Dubin, PHR
Senior Curriculum Developer
Sage Software
727-579-1111 x 3356
david -dot- dubin -at- sage -dot- com
Your business in mind.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+david -dot- dubin=sage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+david -dot- dubin=sage -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of John Garison
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 12:09 PM
To: Collin T
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Formality is going bye-bye?
Hi Colin,
IMHO, they know their audience, and they're talking clearly and directly
to them.
I don't have a real problem with this. But then I advocate using
contractions in my documentation, too. Anything that makes the content
more readable and less off-putting is a good thing. If formality is a
barrier between me and my audience, and if I can get my message across
while using less stilted language, I'm all for it.
Ever read the manuals associated with games? They're pretty informal,
too. And I believe one of them won an STC Best of Show award a few years
ago - complete with torn pages, 'handwritten' crib notes, and so forth
... it made the documentation part of the game.
As long as accuracy and completeness are not compromised - and the
Google Q&A format does a good job of presenting complete information - I
say go for it. ANYTHING that will encourage (and not discourage) people
from reading and learning is acceptable (as long as it doesn't alienate
other readers).
Hmmm ... maybe instead of levels of documentation: beginner, advanced,
wizard - we need to think about age stratification: teenz, adults, and
mature.
My 2¢,
John
Collin T wrote:
><snip>
>I was reading Google's explanation regarding their new chat features
>in Gmail. It dawned on me that their language is very informal. Now,
>I've noticed this before, but never thought too much about it.
>Recently, however, I've noticed a few instances of Help text seeming
>to follow Google's lead.
><snip>
>So my question is this: Are "General Public" documents (help, etc)
>going to shift with Google's lead?
>
>I'm not talking about technical documents aimed at specific segments.
>I'm talking about documents that are geared towards general
>consumption.
>
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