#writing #professionalism #accessibility #cohost-repost
2023-02-21

Its always interesting to me how when I format my writing to be easy to read, such as making many small, sometimes single sentence paragraphs, it's seen as unprofessional, or at least discrediting.

But I separate them when there's a change in direction, even if it's subtle. Like putting linebreaks inside your functions to separate sections, even if you don't comment it.

Its seen as "being online", which always puzzled me. Its how, as a (mildly? it's hard to tell because of all the subconscious coping skills that tire me) dyslexic person, I don't get lost as much. Helps cluster information in my head, too, i.e. I have better retention of the information just due to formatting.

It strikes me that we have developed norms that push back against clearer communication -- easier to pass on communication -- all in the name of "proper English" (business English) and academic gatekeeping that leaked into other fields.

Academics speak arcane language not because it helps understanding (though some jargon does) but because they all decided it conferred authority, and as a bonus it signaled club membership. But they also liked that it kept it in the hands of "experts", though now that their subjects have access to the language, we find, more and more, they're as far from expert or professional as one can be.

so, idk. consider this the case for posting in all contexts instead of cargo-culting the styles of the field, where possible. if you have to be professional elevate to blogposting. but on some level you gotta elevate the human and communication parts of human communication, and not the preformatted form they expect you to use because they're removing the ambiguity necessary for any interface in the name of protocol that strips anything that might make the recipient feel remorse.