Has the internet made us dumber?

[Scott P]

I always thought that the internet was around as a good information resource. It should make us smarter and able to do things on our own. But, I seem to think we are sliding backwards.

Whatever happened to the ability to write a comprehendible sentence? I swear that the concept of spelling and grammar has gone out the window. Maybe I’m old school, but I find it hard to take people seriously that can’t assemble a complete thought. There are posters who don’t seem to know that sentences begin with these wacky things called capital letters. Somewhere along the lines of recent history, the letter “u” has replaced the word “you”. I must have missed that memo. Apparently, the memo also explained that “4” has replaced “for”. Reading some posts is like trying to decipher custom license plates. I lost my Double Super-Secret Captain Cosmo Decoder Ring from Fruit Loops years ago. Maybe people are using some sort of code language? Are aliens taking over?

I know the invention of chatting and instant messages tend to use the secret code words. I imagine it due to the fast paced nature of the scrolling text. But, why does it carry over into message boards? There are no great time constraints. If you try to correct the poor grammar, you are labeled as “Grammar Police”. In essence, ignorance is accepted and proper use of the English language is seen as a freak trait.

The internet is faceless and silent. You only have words to convey your thoughts and opinions. When you can’t even get those right, I lose the ability to even care for or respect any thoughts those words are attempting to convey.

If you can’t spell, try typing your post into a word processing program first. Let it correct your spelling, poor grammar and improper use of “there”, “their” or “they’re”. Really, it’s not hard. I know I’m not the only one here who feels that way.

[audiboy]

I tend to get over less trivial things in life. I`m not going to not read something because of the lack of capitalization at the beginning of a sentence. I will not waste my time if I can`t read it without minimal trouble though. Here is a bulletin on myspace.com that I recieved lately.

"4 all u who kno nothin bout makin ur audi run n handle beter"

I think that displays the foreign language you are speaking of.

[TW85]

Agree 100%. It isn`t difficult and it does not take much more time to use proper English on the internet. Some people spend more time writing "shortcuts" than they would if they actually properly spelled the words and used punctuation.

[Mr. Clean]

LOL Having a bad night are you, Scott P? :eek Yes, I share some of your pain, but as audiboy said, I`ve got other rats to kill. ;) Though it seems appropriate to see the topic brought up from time to time, it never really does anything to alleviate the problem as those "offenders" either don`t know any better or don`t care. Another of my pet peeves is the "kiddie speak" that we get...you know what I mean... the expletive deletives thrown out hoping to sound "grown up". :rolleyes: Throw in the occasional "if someone had done that to my car (or choose your scenario), I`d kick his a$$".

What never ceases to amaze me are the number of incidences of poor grammar even in a corporate business environment, where the contributors are supposedly educated people (even having post graduate work behind them).

Oh well, moving on. Thanks for the prompt for a rant. :cool

[Poorboy]

Scott..nice rant but that`s life :dunno

Try getting an e-mail with writing like that from people who want to become distributors of your products:lmfao

I have to admit that I often need to go back and reread and repair many of my own posts for spelling and grammar...sometimes my fingers don`t write what I
want them to:rolling

and didn`t you ever see a sign "4 Sale":confused:

[NYV6Coupe]

My hot-button issue is white space. Look at the previous posts & you`ll see they are broken-up into manageable "chunks" making it easier to read just like the newspaper, just like magazines, just like many posts.

Someone could write the most intelligent, helpful, 100% accurate post & I`d probably skip reading it if it looked like this (I`ll use Scott`s original post):

"I always thought that the internet was around as a good information resource. It should make us smarter and able to do things on our own. But, I seem to think we are sliding backwards.Whatever happened to the ability to write a comprehendible sentence? I swear that the concept of spelling and grammar has gone out the window. Maybe I’m old school, but I find it hard to take people seriously that can’t assemble a complete thought. There are posters who don’t seem to know that sentences begin with these wacky things called capital letters. Somewhere along the lines of recent history, the letter “u” has replaced the word “you”. I must have missed that memo. Apparently, the memo also explained that “4” has replaced “for”. Reading some posts is like trying to decipher custom license plates. I lost my Double Super-Secret Captain Cosmo Decoder Ring from Fruit Loops years ago. Maybe people are using some sort of code language? Are aliens taking over?I know the invention of chatting and instant messages tend to use the secret code words. I imagine it due to the fast paced nature of the scrolling text. But, why does it carry over into message boards? There are no great time constraints. If you try to correct the poor grammar, you are labeled “Grammar Police”. In essence, ignorance is accepted and proper use of the English language is seen as a freak trait.The internet is faceless and silent. You only have words to convey your thoughts and opinions. When you can’t even get those right, I lose the ability to even care for or respect any thoughts those words are attempting to convey. If you can’t spell, try typing your post into a word processing program first. Let it correct your spelling, poor grammar and improper use of “there”, “their” or “they’re”. Really, it’s not hard. I know I’m not the only one here who feels that way."

This is just impossible to read so everyone, please, break your posts down into manageable portions.

[CharlesW]

so everyone, please, break your posts down into manageable portions.
O












K

Charles :D

[zannard]

I know people type as if they were trying to talk. That is where most of the mistakes come from. I`m sure I do it from time to time.

"Shortcuts" usually make the posts shorter. I know I don`t fully read long posts. That is why we have a two page list of acronyms on this site alone. And believe me there is a lot that are missing from the list.

Oh, and you don`t correct your friends grammer when your are sitting around shooting the S#*%. To me most of these boards or chat rooms are pretty much that. Just a bunch of guys or gals sitting around talking. No big deal. :)

[TW85]

Shortcuts in my mind = "4" in place of "for," "gr8" in place of "great," "u" in place of "you."

I find those shortcuts very irritating and will skip any post that contains them.

[sellncars]

I will start by saying, if you don`t like it don`t read it. I`m not going to call anyone any names, I`m not going to say to many bad things. This board has not made me any friends and probably a few people that don`t like me. You should stop your crying and just read the posts. I`m not an English teacher and have been out of school along time now. I would suggest that if you want to `````, ````` to your wife and kids if you have them. Now run your original thread through the spell checker and see what you missed.

http://www.spellcheck.net

Scott P this is for you!!

[rabbi]

Two times in the past 2 or 3 weeks I get to use this." I`m staying out of it".

[dalmore]

I know I have a problem with typing skills - or rather a complete lack of typing skills. It`s a struggle to remind myself to proofread. Posts like one of the ones I made yesterday (and later cringed while reading) and like Scott`s really help as a reminder.

But then again, I don`t lose sleep over it. And rarely do I count off for typos and spelling when reading a post.

[Boss_429]

Two times in the past 2 or 3 weeks I get to use this." I`m staying out of it".
:D

[Focusedonsound]

I look at this a few different ways.

1. When I am sending an e-mail to a friend (not work related by any means) 9x out of ten I am sending them a quick e-mail in regards to plans, or sending them a link to something I saw and thought of them ect. When I send those e-mails I don`t really care. Don`t check for my grammer, spelling ect.

2. When Im on a forum such as Detail City I put a little more thought into my posts however If im spelling a word and im not 100% positive I will do my best to spell it correctly and put a (SP) at the end of the word because once again chances are I am in a rush to get an answer and I do feel as though I am among friends here.

3. When I am at work and I have to send an e-mail, letter, Resume, anything like that. Thats when the big guns come out and I will take the time to re- read everything I do along with check spelling multiple times ect.

So In the end ..I think people in general take things too criticly. We are in a relaxed atmosphere here does it really matter that I for got a comma in a sentance or a period at the end?

ON EDIT:

Download Mozilla Firefox!! (if your not using it already) It has a built in spell checker which works great. Unfortunatly I am stuck using IE while I am at work. However at home thats all I use.

[Scott P]

It`s not that ignorance keeps me awake at night, but it just makes me sad. I never said I had a problem with acronyms for products. I use them myself since they are so widely accepted. But, like TW85 said, the abbreviation like “u”, “l8tr”, and others like it are just plain annoying. If people want to set low standards for themselves and the way they project themselves to others, then so be it.

Sellncars…I’m sorry if you took my post so personal. Education does continue beyond school. You don’t need to be an English teacher to know how to write a sentence or know when to use “to” or “too”. I am just stating my observations in general about what I see here and on other forums. Apparently, it must have hit too close to home for your comfort. I apologize for that. It was not the original intent of my post.