Hello 'italkers'! 🙂 This is not a question; just a tip to posters... I have noticed that people sometimes introduce their posts/messages with: Hello dear Hello dears Hi dear (s) Dears... I thought I might point out that this form of addressing people is not common, normal, or used by most native speakers, these days. It sounds a little odd, and dated In fact, the only time I would write 'dear', would be to start a fairly formal written letter or email: - Dear Mr Collingwood, - Dear Charlie, - Dear Charlie Collingwood, Another context would be when a more elderly person is speaking (in the UK): - Can you pass me my glasses, dear? - Oh you are a dear! (= you are kind) In this case, it's a rather old-fashioned term of endearment, used largely by older people. If you are thinking of an alternative to 'Dear' what about using the address I put at the top of this post. Or if that is too casual, you could just say: Dear italkers...😉