Basic writing tools

Why is it that so many people post on message boards without any respect for proper nouns, capitalization, or punctuation these days? I won't even get into grammar. If I see one more 10-paragraph post without a single capital letter or even a comma, I think I will scream. I just can't read that shit and not wonder whether the writer is just sloppy or dumb. It totally obscures the content.

well me and my friends dont think its a problem
 
I just returned to Facebook after a nine-month hiatus. A distant acquaintance sent me a message almost immediately: "I see your back!"

I replied immediately: "I don't think so but, from that distance, you probably can't see my front or sides, either."

I don't think he caught on.
 
Reminds me of the line from Austin Powers where he tells Dr. Evil, "I used to think you were crazy, but now I can see your nuts." LOL ...
 
Can I claim an off day? Should've included a winkie ;)
 
Long posts where the author doesn't break up the text into paragraphs often annoy me. I'm forgiving of spelling and grammar issues, but surely it's not that hard even for a non-native speaker to present a post in a readable way.
 
Long posts where the author doesn't break up the text into paragraphs often annoy me. I'm forgiving of spelling and grammar issues, but surely it's not that hard even for a non-native speaker to present a post in a readable way.

Apparently this is often an issue when people post from their phones. I don't really understand why the post can't wait until a computer is handy, but I suppose it isn't up to me. I tend to just ignore those posts and move on to another thread! :p
 
I don't accept that as a reason. I've yet to encounter an internet-capable phone that doesn't allow the use of a carriage return character.
 
I don't accept that as a reason. I've yet to encounter an internet-capable phone that doesn't allow the use of a carriage return character.

I don't know about you, but I have a VERY difficult time navigating long messages on a tiny screen. Even extra long texts tend to be a cesspool for errors caused by automatic "correction" or mistyping that is hard to notice. I don't use internet-capable phones, but I would imagine that long posts would have similar difficulties for many that I have with texts.

-From a person who texts - a lot -and still makes mistakes when attempting to edit on a tiny little screen.
 
Apparently this is often an issue when people post from their phones. I don't really understand why the post can't wait until a computer is handy, but I suppose it isn't up to me. I tend to just ignore those posts and move on to another thread! :p

I have several friends who do not have computers at home or access to the internet on anything other than their phone. I recently had to start using an older phone from 3 years ago and texting has become a nightmare once again just because I do not have a keypad on that phone. It sucks, but even my semi smart phone only gave me a tiny little line of visible space in which to type online. So once that sentence passed out of view it was incredibly difficult to correct it. Even now, this website is telling me that texting is not a word, so I can't imagine how auto correcting phones manage to make any sense at all.
 
I have several friends who do not have computers at home or access to the internet on anything other than their phone. I recently had to start using an older phone from 3 years ago and texting has become a nightmare once again just because I do not have a keypad on that phone. It sucks, but even my semi smart phone only gave me a tiny little line of visible space in which to type online. So once that sentence passed out of view it was incredibly difficult to correct it. Even now, this website is telling me that texting is not a word, so I can't imagine how auto correcting phones manage to make any sense at all.

I sympathise. There have been times when I've been stuck with a phone or a very basic computer, and it is difficult and frustrating to try and write a long post. For me though, it's worth taking the extra time to (laboriously) scroll back and check and correct, just so that my post will be readable and user-friendly.

Haha, autocorrect is indeed pretty evil though :)
 
Not entirely a spelling and grammar issue, but it fits under readability. There seems to be a rash of newish posters using really bright and annoying colours either to reply to quotes within the quote tags or for their whole post just because they can, and at least one longer standing poster who always seems to be shouting. I'm newish myself and don't know if that's considered normal here or not.
 
Boldface does look a little like shouting. Not as bad as all-caps though! Thank goodness we don't have too much of that.

Re (from Klayton, Post #30):
"Long posts where the author doesn't break up the text into paragraphs often annoy me."

Yeah, I hate mile-long paragraphs ... gasp, feels like I'm running out of breath. :)

Re (from km34, Post #31):
"Apparently this is often an issue when people post from their phones."

Ohhh ...

Still, I don't think that's always the case ... but maybe people are just used to not doing paragraph breaks, due to extensive experience texting on their phone?

On the other hand, I wish *everything* didn't have to be done the same way it's done on a phone. If your keyboard has a carriage return key (the Enter key), please, use it!

I also personally prefer two carriage returns between paragraphs, though I know that's just me. Sure you can do one carriage return and indent (e.g. Tab). But it still seems visually easier for me to have a vertical space in between the paragraphs.

Just my preference!

Re (from Emm, Post #32):
"I don't accept that as a reason. I've yet to encounter an internet-capable phone that doesn't allow the use of a carriage return character."

I take it it's from texting habits from before when any phones were able to "do" the internet. Plus maybe the carriage return isn't easily accessible on a phone? (Although, just because something is a habit, and easier, doesn't make it better.) I just know that it's very accessible from a computer keyboard, so. If you're at the computer ...

Shoot, I have a hard time reading my own messages if I don't break up the text. I cheat a little and use Notepad's automatic wrap-around "feature" to remind me of when I'm putting "too much" in one paragraph.

Unless my post is gonna be, like, one short sentence, I always type it in Notepad first (and save often). And I always proofread before submitting a post. I'm obsessive about that!

Of course, I live in the "old-fashioned world" ... computer only. I rarely text, and when I do, I try to submit the least amount of words possible (preferably one!). Ugh, I hate texting.
 
I found another thing that kind of bothers me.... Some people in BDSM relationships will use the O/our, W/we, i, She, He weird capitalization stuff to denote dom- or sub-ness. It drives me nuts!

In my head it's like stuttering because I can't get used to having to leave out one the letters, so it's simultaneously hilarious (because I seemingly have no control over how I read it) and irritating (because once again, I have no control over how I read it).

I is supposed to be capitalized. Period. I think I would find typography choices (using he instead of He or something) easier to get past. It would still denote a difference (dom bold, sub not bold), but it wouldn't create this odd dissonance with normal rules of grammar.

Add these threads to the list of ones that I generally don't read.
 
Actually, I've noticed the "I" pronoun is sometimes not capitalized even when there's no BDSM context (e.g., "i'm just a vanilla guy, i have no BDSM relationships"). And then there's those posts where the person seems to be on a crusade to banish capital letters forever (e.g., "i, kevin, testify that caps are a victorian artifact. they should be eliminated so humanity can progress). Add to that a refusal to use punctuation, and ow ... my eyes ...
 
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