

Issues - jgrahamc
http://blog.jgc.org/2012/07/issues.html

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tptacek
I don't see "issue" as a weasel word, although I can see why he does. To me,
it's just a general term that captures "problem" and "fault" and "bug". I
don't think a lot of people read it and think to themselves, "oh, I thought
there was a fault here, but it turns out it's just an issue". "Issue" is
equally negative.

Bug trackers become "issue trackers" in part because people started to use
them to track more than bugs.

~~~
Spooky23
I think "issues" gain weasel points when combined with "may". It comes across
as distancing yourself from whatever is going on.

The statement "Users may be having issues accessing Twitter" says to me that
there may not be an issue, and if there is, it may be someone else's fault.

Speaking factually is the better course, IMO. "Some users are reporting
problems accessing Twitter. Our engineering team is investigating the issue."
No implications there.

People are used to hearing nonsense and discount everything you say once you
start using it. I worked in a building where the building management tried to
dress up a small fire as a drill by repeatedly declaring that all was well,
even as a half dozen ladder trucks pulled up. Now a smoldering cigarette in a
stairwell triggers building evacuations.

~~~
scottbruin
I always understood "may be having issues accessing Twitter" to simply mean
Twitter is made up of large distributed services that rarely all go down.
Instead service A in location C down might be down which means you might not
be able to use the site in one of the many different ways you interact with
it.

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jaylevitt
I once had a co-worker, LS, who insisted on never saying the word "problem";
everything was a "challenge". Always. If the data center exploded in a fiery
ball, we were experiencing massive system challenges.

I bet our VP of Operations a hundred bucks that he couldn't get LS to say the
word "problem". Without missing a beat, he turned to LS and said "I'll pay you
fifty bucks to say the word 'problem'." And he did.

So while I support your quest for transparency, I really can't participate -
it's proven expensive for me.

~~~
prostoalex
This is proper old English, was your coworker Indian?

Same for "kindly <do something>", interesting phraseologisms that are not used
by modern Brits, but are still in place in ex-colonies.

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pizza
Using the passive voice is a long tradition of almost everyone who's ever made
a mistake: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistakes_were_made>

Often, I wish publicists would say things more tersely.

~~~
dllthomas
Blaming the passive voice is a long tradition of almost everyone who doesn't
read Language Log.

You can write weaselly, evasive cop-outs without using the passive, and you
can write sentences that use the passive while still putting the blame
squarely where it lies.

~~~
gruseom
Oh, but it's much easier with the passive, as the classics of the genre
attest. That doesn't mean the passive voice isn't sometimes to be preferred,
which is all that the Language Log people are saying.

~~~
dllthomas
Well, they're also saying that 1) it's very frequently blamed when it doesn't
actually diffuse responsibility ("Mistakes were made by John. He's been
sacked."); and 2) it's very frequently blamed where it doesn't even occur.
This is not to say that it _cannot_ be used in this way, but simple avoidance
or blame of the passive is neither necessary nor sufficient.

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slurgfest
While we are making the language more straightforward, it's not even
"experiencing problems accessing Twitter." Like what problems, dry mouth and
nausea? The problem isn't some incidental experience, the problem is that they
can't access Twitter. Because it is not responsive, connections do not
complete adequately, the intended page is not delivered. Twitter isn't working
right. And this isn't a perfectly appropriate time to be puffing up its
employees with honorifics like "engineer" (are they certified?)

Why not this: "Oops, the site is down because something isn't working right on
our end. We're working on getting the site back up as soon as possible." (BTW,
isn't working right is a euphemism for "broken")

Seriously, why not? Twitter is a great big company, why does it have to use
language which puts a mere individual at a disadvantage? Is the position of
this large, wealthy corporation so desperate that it cannot afford an ounce of
humility at the moment it has made a mistake? Does it need to get the upper
hand over little individuals looking at its web page?

You know the maid and the cook have to say big, frankly-worded mea culpas when
something is off. "Diners may be experiencing issues digesting the Royal Egg
Salad. Our Gastronomists are currently conducting an in-depth probe to resolve
the issue." "We understand that diners are experiencing problems chewing."

------
zachrose
Twitter doesn't owe me anything. They don't owe me uptime, they don't owe me
an explanation of downtime, and they don't owe me apologies.

Obviously, the site is down. They needn't say more than that.

~~~
makmanalp
Populist counter-viewpoint: Twitter is literally nothing without the users. No
content, no revenue, no value. They owe their users everything.

edit: I deserved that. :)

~~~
iNate2000
Figuratively nothing ;)

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languagehacker
I don't mind being intentionally vague because you don't know what the problem
is. What bugs me is when companies that make money off of your data, and
provide open-source APIs so other people can also make money off of your data,
don't post a public root cause analysis.

The RCA you show everyone else doesn't have to be as detailed as the RCA you
maintain for your own records. However, you should let people know what went
wrong and how your organization is learning from it. It helps your
organization grow; it maintains a philosophy of openness, and it provides
closure for all the poor people traumatized from being unable to tweet.

------
romain_g
"For once you start down the path of the mealy-mouthed forever will it
dominate your vocabulary."

It already dominates the world.

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count
How is 'problem' or 'issue' really that different?

And 'may be' is technically accurate as well - Twitter has been working fine
for me, so there was no 'problem' with my access.

~~~
rytis
[http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-
between...](http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-
issue-and-problem/)

~~~
count
That seems to indicate it was an issue after all?

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justinhj
To be fair sometimes when you can't tweet you get the message "sorry we did
something wrong. try again later"

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davidbrent
I'm so sick of people taking _issue_ with corporate communications doing their
job.

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f1nch3r
Welcome to California.

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vegas
More importantly, where's the whale?

------
mahyarm
People will stop doing it when it stops being rewarding to do so.

~~~
slurgfest
I would love to see a documented A/B test of a failure message. But I have the
suspicion that this is one of those "industry practices" based on
presuppositions and anxiety rather than any demonstrated track record.

