Forum etiquette

[anmldr]

What is the unwritten rule (or perhaps written that I have not found yet) about saying "thank you" on these forums? I know that we can get notified by email when someone responds to a post. It can be annoying to go to the trouble of opening an email and then going to the forum, only to find a comment like "Thank you." It is a waste of your time if the comment is not made by you or being read by the person being thanked...I do NOT want to waste anyone's time. But I also do not want to seem ungrateful for the help offered here.

It would be great if we could just post a thumb's up on a message. But these forums are older technology and are still reliable so, no need to change.

Do people want to be thanked here or is just a "TIA" on the original poster's message good enough?

I am so tempted every day to say "Thank you" here and after many posts in a thread.

Here is my "TIA" for this thread...
Linda

[FourthWorld]

A kind question. Thank you.

As in the real world, etiquette is quite varied here. A "thank you" is always appreciated, but in our busy world I don't think many expect it. "TIA" seems a nice gesture.

One thing I've seen users here do that I find helpful is to change the thread title with "SOLVED" appended once a good solution has been found. Not at all a requirement, but I find it helpful to sort through which issues have solutions from those which may remain unresolved.

[anmldr]

Thank you. I do in fact use the [SOLVED] in the subject line.

[MadDogDean]

Personally, I still like a "Thank you" if what I have provided is useful or solves the problem.

Recently there was a big discussion over at StackExchange (or was is StackOverflow??) dealing with the same thing. Eventually, it was decided that greetings (Hello, Hey, Hi, "Hey all, searched for this one, but no luck"), thank you's, closing comments (like Regards, Thank you, etc) were being removed as they contributed to the "clutter" of the exchange - or so was the opinion of the moderators.

For me, pleasantries still play a vital roll in social settings. Settings like opening a door, stopping for a pedestrian, letting someone go ahead, etc. An acknowledgment of an action is always appreciated.

I was chatting with a widowed friend and she related how every night before her & her late-husband went to sleep, they both said "Thank you if you have done something and I forgot to say Thanks and sorry if I did something to hurt you today!" This, to me, seems so cold and disconnected.

Perhaps when users join a forum, they should post a message in the Welcome topic and say "Thank you to anyone that may help me in the future during my time in these forums", that would also eliminate the need for "Thanks in advance", TIA, or anything similar.

It seems that once the advent of the smartphone and related technologies, we are all much more connected than ever, but we are becoming more isolated. If we start to lose, or forget, the necessary interactions as people, we will have evolved into a state of devolution.

Thanks for reading.

[SparkOut]

We had a similar question before, and I was of the same opinion then that a simple thank you is great, very pleasant to have, but also a swift message that indicates closure and confirmation that the forum proved useful would be appreciated as well, and be valuable to other users in solving a problem. A post like "thanks, that idea to use set the angle rather than rotate the graphic was the way to go here" is friendly, welcome AND informative, much more than changing the subject line to include "solved".

[bogs]

Heck, I'm happy if I just see the poster come back to say that something mentioned worked, even if it isn't something I mentioned in particular.

[kdjanz]

As someone who is reading a lot of old threads these days, I'm with Sparkout. Finding a final post with a summary of what the working solution was (and thanks to the contributors!) is pure gold and worth adding to the canon of Tricks and Tips that I'm noting for my own use.

Kelly

[SparkOut]

It doesn't always have to be a whole reiteration of the problem and solution. "Yes, that was it, thanks" is succinct, pertinent and polite.

[richmond62]

Thank you for that illuminating discussion.

[ClintMA]

How about putting [SOLVED — Thanks!] in the edited subject line?

[richmond62]

What a wonderful, cuddly, almost erotic suggestion . . . my toes are tingling . . . it might be MORE FUN
to see who can come up with the most preposterous 'Thank you' going.