AngryManDinners

When does writing start to “matter?”

On more than a few occasions, people have commented about my frustration with poor online grammar and spelling.

“Why do you get so upset?”  “Relax, it’s only the Internet.”

Hmmm.

Ok.  Let’s say that you’re writing a short note to your roommate or spouse to let him or her know that you drank the last of the orange juice.

You might grab a scrap of paper and write, “Were out of OJ,” and attach it to the ‘fridge.

Now, if we were to re-write that sentence using proper grammar and spelling, it would say, “We’re out of O.J.”

But we really don’t need to do that. After all, the communication is casual, it is intended for only one person and the intended recipient is familiar.  Also, the meaning is quite clear and the note is ephemeral  – it will only be on the ‘fridge for a very short time.

Instant messaging and then text messaging by phone created a similar form of quick, casual communication. Because messages were quick, temporary exchanges, between friends, and in the case of texting via phone, done on the go, punctuation, grammar and spelling took a backseat to brevity.

A shorthand developed – with abbreviations – brb = be right back, omw= on my way, btw= by the way, and so on.   “You” became “u,” “Too” and “to” became “2,” etc.

Just like that quickly written, temporary note on the refrigerator, these exchanges are casual, very ephemeral communications between close associates.  So very informal language is appropriate.

Postings on the Internet, on the other hand, are a bit different.

Depending on where you are posting and what your privacy/viewing settings may be, your post may be read by all of your friends, all of your friends’ friends, people who receive it via forward or repost and also, complete strangers.

Posting something online in public forum definitely exposes your writing to a much larger audience, made up of mostly strangers.

So this communication is not casual. And not temporary or fleeting, either.  Things posted on the Web, in theory, stay there forever.

In that permanence, it’s a lot like a tattoo.  And you’d think that someone inking a tattoo would want to be more aware of proper spelling than someone who’s just writing in the sand on a beach.

But, no.   There are plenty of misspelled tattoos out in the world.  They’re also posted in galleries on the Internet. http://www.oddee.com/item_96504.aspx

Why are misspelled tattoos so funny?  Because they are public and permanent.

And, in a way, so are your posts on the Internet.

Tags: Internet posts, Misspelled tattoos, Poor online spelling, Writing matters

This entry was posted on June 19, 2010 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.