Request Maybe reducing acronym use would benefit Malware Tips

[conceptualclarity]

I believe that Malware Tips would be improved by a little bit less use of acronyms. I think the extreme amount of acronym use on the website makes it more insular and less positioned for growth. It appears to me that growth is indeed valued and desired on the website. When newcomers land here from a web search and have to plow through lots of unfamiliar acronyms it's not going to be maximally appealing.

I know that CF/CS means CruelSister's configuration of Comodo Firewall, but a newcomer to the website is very unlikely to know that. And I must admit even as a regular on the website at times I scratch my head wondering what an acronym refers to. I just now saw the thread Security Product Acronyms used on MalwareTips (Helpful for New Members), and that's good to have; I'll bookmark it. (It does need some updating.) But visitors to the website aren't going to be aware of that thread.

I propose that we encourage people to spell out what they are referring to in their first reference in the thread and then use the acronym in subsequent references if they desire. The way things are typically done in good writing is put the full designation and the acronym together in the first reference, as in :

Emsisoft Emergency Kit (EEK)

and then say EEK in subsequent references.

 

[Ink]

I agree.

Especially "IS" for Internet Security.

For example: "[Help Me Decide] Should I use Eset is or Kaspesky is?"

 

[Digmor Crusher]

It does take awhile if your a newcomer to figure out what all these mean, however, it would be pretty hard to stop it.

 

[oldschool]

It's a good idea but I agree with @Digmor Crusher that it will be difficult.

 

[mouselette]

Instead of trying to change behaviours of an entire community, how about we pull together an acronym list? Thats how my business deals with it and its not only informative, its interesting!

 

[mlnevese]

I think it would be easier to stick an acronym thread to the front page of the forum than trying to make every poster stop using acronyms....

 

[SHvFl]

Who would waste their time to type words when an established acronyms can be used? Just google what you don't know and if you still can't figure it out ask the person that posted it.

 

[RoboMan]

I admit it is a bit hard at first to understand acronyms used here. I suffered it myself, but nothing I couldn't solve by asking. Everybody's nice here, so asking will not be a problem

 

[Aleeyen]

We are all getting lazy day by day.

 

[plat]

Many times you can think you are talking/writing with familiarity to a select one or a few on the forums and threads but in reality, you are expressing yourself to a much larger, unseen audience. We may not be aware there are Others.....watching us.

 

[uninfected1]

I'm with @conceptualclarity on this. And an acronym list needn't be instead of what he is suggesting, it can be in addition to. Even so, having to constantly refer to a list, particularly for newcomers, is a pain and is going to put a lot of noobs off. Far better to use long hand initially.

 

[Ink]

Instead of trying to change behaviours of an entire community, how about we pull together an acronym list? Thats how my business deals with it and its not only informative, its interesting!

A thread was created by a member in 2012, and last updated in 2016.

https://malwaretips.com/threads/sec...on-MalwareTips-helpful-for-new-members.12405/

 

[conceptualclarity]

I think it would be easier to stick an acronym thread to the front page of the forum than trying to make every poster stop using acronyms....

I make it clear in my original post that I am not out to ban acronyms. (In fact, I have been known to use them myself. ) What I'm saying is it would be good to establish a norm of adhering to the typical practice in good writing in which the first use of the acronym is accompanied by the full designation spelled out. I haven't run a website, so I'm not in a good position to advise the best way to promote such a norm.

I think we need to do something because this wonderful, valuable website is Acronym City, which as I said bewilders newcomers and thus is not the best way to promote the growth and health of the website. For those of who love the website so much that we would be greatly pained to lose it, it makes sense for us to cultivate a consciousness of doing our best to make the website as appealing as possible to non-members. It's vital that we grab a whole lot of the new people who land on this website from search engine results.

 

[show-Zi]

Now, is it a function where the official name comes out automatically when you type in an acronym!? I experienced such a phenomenon a while ago.

 

[Burrito]

It's probably fair and a good practice to spell out acronyms at first use in most threads.

When I start a thread, I'm careful to spell out everything.

For SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) of course, this is not necessary. But for new MT (Malware Tips) members and the many looking in, it would make it a friendlier place.

 

[oldschool]

It's probably fair and a good practice to spell out acronyms at first use in most threads.

I'm still trying to figure out FUD!

 

[Burrito]

I'm still trying to figure out FUD!

Which is not to be confused with Fud (rather than 'FUD').

Definition of FUD