Am I just an old fashioned, uptight lady?

Question

I have noticed that alot of people don't use capitolization or punctuation and do use abbreviations for words when communicating on-line. It just about drives me nuts when I am trying to decipher something that looks like it was written by a 5 year old. The teachers were very strict when I was in school (late 1970's) about the correct way to write. Why does it not seem to apply to writing on the internet? If some people can't send an e-mail that is readable, what hope do they have of submitting a resume to an employer? I'm beginning to think that it is just laziness. What do you think? Am I too obsessive/compulsive?

Answer 1

It isn't really that you are obsessive compulsive. It started more as a way to send a message using less characters. Like you said, more of laziness. People created that language online made up of numbers, letters, and symbols to express a word in less time. That language as I understand is called H4x0r (Haxor). Mostly a language used in instant messaging and emails but lately has come into blogs, public forums and the like. I do agree with you that it is for the most part just laziness. You have to admire the creativity atleast to come up with interpretations of words in the ways people have made.

Though in the end correct grammer and spelling wins out. In the corporate world and other business situations Haxor will only lead to trouble. You may forget to spell something correctly or how to spell it correctly over time. Though it is a personal choice, and personally I choose english over H4x0r.

In the end, no, you are not old fashioned or uptight. It is just a preference that should not be held against you. Hope this helps

Answer 2

It depends. On a site like this one, I try to write in complete sentences with proper capitalization (not "capitolization"!) and only occasional use of abbreviations. I write e-mail somewhat similarly, but in a style that's perhaps slightly less formal, at least to friends. I think that e-mail and sites such as this call for a style of writing that's somewhat more informal and relaxed than print.

but ull nevr c me writng like this on a site lik this cuz thats just hard 2 read n lame :)

However, real-time chat (including IM and IRC) is a different matter. When chatting in real time, it is often more important to get the point across quickly than to do it accurately. There, I think that abbreviations, lack of punctuation, and even uncorrected typos are perfectly acceptable in the interests of speed.

Finally, you ask "If some people can't send an e-mail that is readable, what hope do they have of submitting a resume to an employer?" I think you are reasoning poorly here. Not everyone's standards for use of language in e-mail are the same as yours or mine. Someone may be perfectly capable of writing a decent résumé or business letter, yet choose to be extremely informal and lazy when it comes to e-mail. This is in fact the case for at least one friend of mine (probably more). So don't assume that it's incompetence...it may just be laziness, or an attempt at being casual.

Answer 3

No, and before i continue, i am sorry if you can not read this because i am a bit of a slacker on the Internet also!!

ALOT of people have this same issue with what we like to call net-chat. and it doesn't seem to be out of control in the least bit, some people just have preferences on different subjects. For instance, i can NOT stand when people say like all the time. It's just an opinion.

and i think you should be able to have your opinion on the way typing probably should be done, without having to be referred to as an old fashioned uptight lady.

well i hope this helped you in any way possible

take care!!

Answer 4

It annoys me sometimes too, but I understand why. Since most people talk to their friends online, they don't see the point in using capitolization or punctuation. It might be laziness for some people, but in my opinion it's just faster.

Answer 5

No, you aren't. It's lazy and it reflects poorly on the people who do it. I love that some of them type "wut" instead of "what", like it takes so much more effort to type one more letter! I'm not sure what the purpose is, but it makes them seem ignorant. The saddest part is, I've noticed many kids who seem to do it when they aren't online, so it's affecting their ability to communicate intelligently outside of the computer. Sad.

Answer 6

people do not feel it is neccesary to use accurate punctuation and grammar while informally communicating online. I do this too, it's not neccesary to spend extra time with punctuation, and yes, we are getting lazier

Answer 7

I to graduated in the 70's and like you said it can be hard to follow what they type but I have learned to read the crazy lingo quite well. But I refuse to type it! "PEACE"