[vharuck]

>For abbreviations, it's simply know your audience

I've learned to avoid abbreviations and acronyms whenever possible in writing. If it's fast back-and-forth messaging, that could be fine to save time typing. Otherwise, people are very good at seeing long names as single "symbols."

For example, I don't use "CI" for "confidence interval" in reports. I just write both words every time. No confusion, and I doubt there's a difference in reading speed.

Obviously, there are exceptions when space for text is limited (presentation slides, labels in a chart).