methods of writing on the internet - capitals?

I fixed the misspelling!

I find the lack of capitalisation is a bit confusing. Capitals mark the start of new sentences for me, so things tend to blur into one long mass of words otherwise.

What annoys me more though is txt speak and lazy spelling etc. If people can't spell that's fair enough but when people can but can't be bothered it is a bit irritating.

Of course if someone is browsing and replying using a mobile phone, PSP or whatever that's understandable. But if you have a computer with a regular keyboard there is less excuse for sloppiness.

I know I sound like an old fart, but that's how I feel about it!

It is also one of the things we look at when shortlisting new potential moderators. Good clear written English is needed to communicate unambiguously with other members in that role.

 

I generally try to use good grammar, but when I'm feeling lazy I sometimes slack a little...a lot...lol. But text speak is the most ANNOYING THING EVER!!! Like, WHY DO PEOPLE USE IT?!?! It's incomprehensible!

 

When I'm tired or angry, I don't use grammar at all. things sort of run together like this and its probably harder to read because it all runs together into one big long sentence.


Some teacher once told me that grammar is like the road signs that let a person know how to read a sentence, as in a comma is like a Give Way sign, where you have to slow down, but still keep going, while a full stop is like a Stop sign, so you know that the sentence is complete and finished etc. That's why I try to do good grammar (although I'm not sure that the phrase "do good grammar" is correct) so that the reader is able to read my posts easily and quickly.

 

Can I add one more gripe.... lack of paragraph breaks. If I see a screen full of text with no gaps to break it up I am less likely to read it.

Sometimes I have even edited posts here to put in a few paragraph breaks to make it easier to read, which helps it get more responses.

EDIT: I posted at the same time as Davo and his post sums this up very well.

 

Chibi Mertuary has a serious issue with paragraph breaks. She just never does them for some reason. It's SO ANNOYING!!! It makes her endless ravings impossible to read.

 

I dont mind it so much, but it reads like their shouting at me, which I don't appreciate...
But most of the time when somethings in capitals its just some /b/tard shouting 'DESU' lol.

Also,

I

Like

Paragraph

Breaks

=]

 

I dislike when people ignore grammar and spelling. We need a structure. I don't like it when friends send me messages saying stuff like "ow r u" & "u ok" because it's pointless, it's lazy, and half the time, when people leave out question marks they also leave out enough other stuff that it's not obvious whether it's a question or not.

 

Amen!


**General Statement**
Please don't butcher my language anymore guys =[ It makes me a sad bear.

 

No, I find it difficult reading paragraphs with no capital letters. Like Paul said, it all starts to blur into one big line when all you have is punctuation to separate sentences. I don't, but I can't imagine typing without proper grammar. It's easier for me to think my posts out and type them correctly than gimp on the grammar and capitalization.

 

If they don't capitalize it doesn't bother me too much, but I'd prefer they capitalized properly.

 

Whts? Wrng W/ txt spk?
y0u GuYs 4R3 N00|3S

Hahaha
I actually get annoyed with txt speak. I mean joking around or in a situation where you need to type fast it's okay. But when you write a serious thread or note or blog or whatever it just takes away the seriousness of your post.

I mean if you trying to get people's respect for your issue, then why not take the time to at least add that one extra vowel.

 

I don't mind any lack of capitalisation--I have a friend who doesn't capitalise anything who I write to a lot so I've gotten... I mean "become" used to it. *grin* And I prefer to respect people who don't want their proper name capitalised because really, it's their name. However, in return I do point out that I want my name capitalised when they write it.

I find it really odd when some people (who are not German) capitalise pretty much every noun. Obviously that would make sense if you were raised with German as your first language but for anyone else, I'm like, "What part of 'you only capitalise proper nouns and words at the beginning of a sentence' did you not understand?"

I don't think a lack of capitalisation (or even extra capitalisation) really harms readability significantly. It's just something you have to adjust to. What harms readability to me, more than anything, is the lack of paragraphs. I seriously don't understand why someone would think I'd want to read their stream of consciousness drivel. I guess these days it's quite possible people aren't taught how to form paragraphs properly but I just can't stand it--it makes for such disorganised, all-over-the-place writing and completely detracts from having anyone understand what you're saying.

And grammar--grammar is imperative! I love breaking the rules with respect to txt speak and 1733 occasionally but when I do, it's because I'm trying to make a point, not because I'm too lazy to use the correct spelling or grammar. Sometimes I even try to use the subjunctive properly, I'm that ambitious.

 

I mainly use text speak bcoz:
1) its faster
2) ITS FASTER!! XD

I would use perfect spelling if people want me to, but if they don't say anything, I'll just use text

 

I try to write in proper English. I'm not a native speaker so I probably make lots of mistakes. I correct myself whenever I find I've made a mistake, though.

I'd appreciate it if everyone used proper English. "Txt spk" is heavily pronunciation-based so quite often I have problems understanding it. And back to the thread's subject, lack of capitals doesn't really annoy me but it would be better if people used them.

 

On posts I use perfect grammar (I hope!), but on IMs I won't capitalize things.

It makes it easier to read posts when everything is proper, but for IMs since everything is a separate message noncapitalization is ok with me. On forum posts I appreciate it, though.

I think the only drawback to proper grammar in posts is sometimes you sound cold and distant. Which is why I add in emoticons! =D =O =S

 

From reading your posts, your written English is pretty much flawless.

I always find it odd when people whose first language isn't English write (and sometimes speak) better English than native English speakers. I had a friend from Hong Kong who came to Vancouver when he was about 12 and his English was better than many other people's who had been born here. I've always been really impressed by that because I doubt that, if I ended up in a foreign country at that age, I would have been able to pick up the language that well.

 

My old English teacher used something like that for full stops, commas and dashes. It's like a bear thing where the dad bear has a full stop belly button, the mother bear has a dash for her belly button because she had a C-section and the baby bear has a comma for a belly button because he was just born and a bit of umbilical cord is still attached. And as you down size in bears the pause the punctuation makes is smaller. I think it's really amusing.

Anyway, I don't really care about capitalisation the same as I don't care about netspeak. I sometimes don't capitalise if I'm tired or upset but otherwise I will. But I don't mind if someone else never uses capitals.