In the internet environment of immediacy and instant gratification, do spelling and grammar still matter?

Question

From "Yahoo! Answers":

"2. Answer and make someone's day
Share your real-life experiences and knowledge, and you can make someone's nagging question dissapear."

The correct spelling is "disappear."

Anyone with internet access can blog or email or upload any sort of written materials whatsoever. Spelling and grammar tend to be terrible, even for English-as-a-first-language users. Does it matter? Do content publishers (particularly web-based companies such as Yahoo!, game designers and software developers) have any responsibility to maintain literacy standards? Should they? Does anyone even care, or am I a lone voice in the wilderness?

Answer 1

Spelling, grammar, and punctuation still matter to the portion of the population that still cares about such things. I care, so it's still bothersome to me to read something that lacks these qualities. But to someone who has learned to communicate through instant messaging (and it's frightening to think that there are kids in the category!), it's much less important.

As long as a company is catering to a clientele that cares, it is in their best interest to hire people fluent in written English. But if their clientele moves away from that demographic, then it's less important -- whether I personally like it or not. :-)

The prospectus of a mutual fund is going to have good written English. The manual for a Playstation game might not. That's just the reality of the situation.

Doug

Answer 2

I care very very much! When I'm reading a blog, any grammatical errors make the writer look ignorant, careless, or both of those. I was through my adolescence before the blogging scene was really popular, and it is unnerving to see people of high school age making the types of errors that are commonly seen. Even in informal e-mails I think its important to do some quality control. I don't think that any website designers have a responsibility to maintain literacy standards. Rather it should be the community that sets its own standards. Unfortunately ours are low!!!

Answer 3

If that person is provided with a spell check or a grammar check like Microsoft Word, then yes it matters, that shows laziness. If that person wasn't provided with such materials then they don't have so much weight to the fact they can't spell. Personally, people in the computer world can't spell anyway, that's why we use acronyms, lol.<

Answer 4

Yes, it does matter, as using incorrect spelling and grammar makes one appear illiterate and ignorant, so people who can't spell would be less likely to be respected by others. Also, it can inhibit communication and make it hard for others to understand what you're saying. There's a "Check spelling" button right on top of the text box, and people should use it.

Answer 5

You're not alone, but it's useless to gripe. (I'm the sort who notices split infinitives or the use of "different than," where one should use "different from".) I suppose, after all, the purpose of language must be communication. Should we therefore come to accept poor grammar and spelling in cases where the passing of an idea is successful?

Answer 6

Ice cold beer on a hot day. My favorite foods fixed the right way. A cold refreshing shower after a hard days work. Good hot sex. Listening to my favorite bands jam. The winning score.

Answer 7

I think it does, but we lower our standards based on context. Web pages are more important than email. Email is more important than IM, IM is more important than SMS.

However, even in IM, when I mistype a word, I find myself sending the corrected word over again in a separate line of text.

Answer 8

I think misspelling destroys your credibility, but I also realize that even smart people make mistakes once in a while and I never correct anyone, especially on the internet.

Answer 9

Maybe it's the nuns and Catholic education but I have trouble not spelling correctly, and attempting good grammar. As my mother would say "you know better".

Answer 10

i dnt thnk it matrrs. c. u can stll tell wht im sayin