How Do I Change My Screen Name in Apple Support Communities?

perhaps you should "familiarIZE" yourself with your target audience. If you have noticed, many seem to write as if they are texting and often use lingo preferred by the young 'uns - in fact they are Apple's Target Market <http://appleinccasestudy.weebly.com/apples-target-market.html> and thus your audience.

... are Apple customers really different?
In a survey (SeeWhy, April 2013) of 1,500 US consumers, we found clear differences in the demographics of Apple phone owners. They tend to be younger, better educated, living in urban areas, and are more affluent than Android users: 60% of Apple phone users earn over $75,000 per year, compared with 44% of Android phone owners.
Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2013/12158/three-marketing-tactics-for-th e-emerging-apple-demographic#ixzz3fGz7QqME

AlohaBob IS Hawaiian royalty in many folks opinion it seems = ±9.800 points in about 1-1/2 years? = a pace triple that of yours and mine

In my experience actually running and working in a tech support room, your first task is determining the demographic of your target audience - then next you tailor your communication skills to their needs - teaching lessons MAY be a by-product of the helping process

One catches more flies with honey than one does with vinegar

careful, amigo... is that your PhD in Sociology showing? Linguistics too perhaps?

Your replies/comments are a perfect example of the difficulties and oft misunderstandings of the nuances of online communication. Honey or vinegar have nothing to do with it; neither does the (in)correct use of any language nor the pace with which one acquires pointless points.

babowa wrote:

1. Your replies/comments are a perfect example of the difficulties and oft misunderstandings of the nuances of online communication.
2. Honey or vinegar have nothing to do with it;
3. neither does the (in)correct use of any language
4. nor the pace with which one acquires pointless points.

1. Yes. We must sometimes translate - often from another language altogether - thus our toolbox includes GoogleTranslate, UrbanDictionary and an smattering of common sense (if someone posts in TextSpeak, they MAY be posting from an iPhone, even though they have no Product Info - OR - they be a young person, unschooled in the nuances of online communication with 'us old fogies')
2. Opinion.
   1. honey = coaching, evangelizing
   2. vinegar = lecturing, preaching
3. the "correct" use of language is not determined by me - or you - if you want an authority I guess the dictionary will have to suffice
   appletalk - peeps - iPad
   
4. As many have stated here, the points system Apple's implementation of Gamification is merely to indicate - at a glance - someone's accumulated 'Wisdom" - 'you can rely on babowa, she is a wise person, judging by her acquisition of pointless points and that bobseufert must be a REALLY wise person, judging by how much he has helped folks in a short amount of time'

We three are very likely well past the Apple employee median age (I am exactly double the median age of the Google employee), so I will bet that Apple employees would use the language of their peers...

AlohaBob is one of MY good 'peeps' - I like 'friendly' folk, don't you?