Use of "please" in technical documentation and messages on screen

[Mike Wickham]

Actually, the way I would write the message avoids passive voice and omits 
needless words. I would write, "Updating result list. Please wait..."

Mike Wickham

----- Original Message ----- 
But in order to avoid the passive voice, the UI resorts to the first person 
plural, which is also discouraged in most technical writing style guides. At 
best, the pronoun is unclear because it does not have a clear antecedent; at 
worst, it is punning words in the mouth of the company, which can 
potentially have lkegal consequences (at least in a litigious society like 
the US).

This is one of the occasions where the passive voice is actually 
appropriate, because it is inconsequential to the user who or what is 
performing the act. All that really matters to the user is that the process 
is occurring.