Advice column
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An advice column is a type of newspaper column that offers advice to readers. The columnist who offers advice is colloquially known as an agony aunt.
[edit] Content
An advice column addresses personal problems, in particular giving advice about sexual problems and etiquette.
The "readers' questions" style has spread to almost every periodical publication. The genre has also spread to the Internet, with most of the major writers / teams having their own sites, or space on magazine and newspaper websites; new web-based columns have also appeared.
[edit] Typical format
A question is often asked in an anonymous form, with the name assuming the problem that is being expressed. For example, someone who is asking about erratic behaviour in their partner may sign off as "Confused, Johannesburg". Over the Internet, greater variation is often seen: the person's signature may still refer to the problem being expressed, but in a phrase, which the agony aunt abbreviates so as to spell an appropriate word, for instance, "Confused About My Partner" which would spell CAMP. Dan Savage uses this convention to comic effect in his Savage Love column.nl:Agony Column
