NetStumbler.org Forums

For some reason folks believe that being on the Internet somehow suspends the rules of grammar and punctuation.

For what it's worth, I posted this on the DC Forums to try to explain my thought process as to the reason we should always attempt to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation and am reposting it here for your reading pleasure with a couple of slight edits.


First, most of the folks on here (not all) don't jump on the "use proper spelling and grammar" bandwagon when it is pretty obvious that the poster is not a native English speaker. That said, those of us that ARE native speakers, need to use proper spelling and grammar. Not just on this forum, but in most, if not all, written communication. I am not talking about an occasional typographical error. That happens to everyone. I am talking about a total lack of attention to detail.

Why does this bug me you ask? Well, I am certainly glad that you asked. Let's look at the reasons. First, as someone that speaks more than one language it is extremely difficult to follow written communication in the second language when dealing with typos. There are a ton of colloquialisms used on this forum. Those, and slang terminology make it difficult enough to follow without adding in a total disregard for spelling and grammar rules that any fifth grader should know.

Now, put non-native speakers aside for a second. We are a community. Supposedly a community of intelligent people. This forum shows up on Google for certain technical queries. That means that people outside of our community will come here seeking knowledge from time to time. Do we want the impression they get of WarDrivers to be juvenile punks with no basic communication skills? I don't want that.

Third, as mentioned above, emotion is difficult to convey in the written word. It is even more difficult when you have to wade through a paragraph of ub3r 1337 h4x0r speak dat ur n07 int3re5ted in neway. Your post is much more likely to be misconstrued if you don't take the time to spell out what you mean and formulate a coherent thought.

Fourth, this isn't AIM, IRC, ICQ, SMS or any other real time chat application. In those type of services a person often needs to quickly get their response across otherwise it gets lost in the sea of other responses. It also helps a conversation flow to quickly get a response out. This forum isn't real time. You have the luxury of time to formulate a response and the ability to directly quote the person you are responding to in order to clarify the reason your response is relevant.

Finally, and this goes hand in hand with my second point. It makes you look ignorant if you don't use proper grammar and spelling. It's as simple as that. Contrary to the evidence presented here from time to time, I do not think the core NetStumbler user is ignorant. I do think some of us are lazy. They go hand in hand. There is a reason that sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.

So, in conclusion, make an attempt at proper grammar and spelling when you post. The meaning of your post is much more likely to come across as you intended and you will not look foolish (or if you do it will be for the content of your post, not the presentation ).