A group of young people behind me were talking about things they had read on Facebook and Twitter. One of the group said that she didn't like Facebook because the grammar and spelling mistakes drove her crazy.
This started a spirited discussion about whether proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar were necessary in a social networking environment. Some didn't mind computer speak, some hated it. Some thought improper grammar looked really bad, others thought a spelling mistake or two was no big deal.
Then one girl spoke up, louder than all the rest. Her declaration, bless her heart, was this: I don't believe in grammar.
Her opinion was that she didn't want to spend ten minutes (!) making sure her status update had correct spelling and grammar when she could do it in ten seconds and everyone would know what she was trying to say anyway. It didn't matter if everything was proper. Good grammar isn't important in social media.
I have to disagree. Vehemently. Sure, a spelling mistake or two might slip by. Nobody is perfect. Still, I like to think one would want to put some care into what goes out there for the world to see. Maybe I'm in the minority. I know there are many people who share this girl's view. It saddens me at how often I read statements like this:
Pick me up on you're way to there house.
Ouch. And despite what you might think, it isn't just your close friends that see this. It's your colleagues, teachers, and potential employers. People will figure it out is a poor viewpoint. They will figure it out, but it doesn't do you any favours. At best you appear lazy, at worst ignorant. Taking the extra time (much less than ten minutes) to make sure that what you post makes sense is a much better choice.
I can say I don't believe in gravity all I want, but that's not going to help if I try to walk off a cliff. Like gravity, grammar exists, whether you believe in it or not. And also like gravity, if you try to ignore it, people will think you're an idiot.
Your gravity analogy is spot-on. The your/you're and their/there drive me nuts. It doesn't take much to learn the difference.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. It doesn't. I think if they teach it in grade school, you should know it by university.
DeleteI'm with you sister. We had a whiteboard at work for messages. You wouldn't believe what these college grads called English.
ReplyDeleteYou should get a red dry-erase marker and start grading them. :)
DeleteGrammar is important to me, too. I'm not saying I'm an expert, because I'm not. (Last night at my writer's group I was reading one of the chapters of my book and one of my friends said my point of view had shifted from third-person limited to third-person omniscient and I honestly had only a vague idea what she was talking about. (I had to google it this morning to remember the correct wording!) By the way, do you think there's anything wrong with third-person omniscient? While most of my novel does get inside one person's head, I occasionally peek into other characters as well. I personally don't find it confusing but maybe others do? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThat kind of grammatical discussion is "hard" for me but I don't think there's any excuse for knowing and using the basics. I almost always try to use capitals and proper sentence structure, especially at work, but even on Facebook I do try. It just seems sloppy not to. I also want to set an example for my kids so I make a point of writing properly in any correspondence with them.
Sometimes people reject what they don't understand. Maybe that was the case with the girl in the coffee shop. Maybe she struggled in English class the way I suffered through Physics. (Blech, physics.)
Always an interesting stop here at Calling Shotgun, Laurita.
Grammar is hard, and I'm by no means an expert either. I also understand that there are people out there who struggle with language concepts. That said, if you can make it to university, you should know the basics of punctuation, spelling, and the difference between there/their/they're and your/you're. I would have been less shocked (and amused) if she had said "I don't understand grammar".
DeleteRegarding third person omniscient, I like it. As long as there isn't too much head hopping, and it's consistant, it can be very handy. I usually don't find it confusing either, as long as it's clear whose head you're in at the time.
I like omniscient as well but I don't use it anymore, since there's such a big uproar about head-hopping. Now I use limited with shorter scenes so I can hop about without somebody throwing an axe at me. :)
DeleteBack when I was an avid Facebook user incorrect spelling and grammar used to drive me up the wall. It irritated me so much that if the title of a page or group was spelt incorrectly I was refuse to click 'like' - no matter how much I did 'like' it.
ReplyDeleteBut sometimes it doesn't seem to matter how many times I check a blog post before I publish it there always seems to be a mistake that sneaks past somewhere.
I will use text speak if I'm texting my brother or sister (I would with my mum and dad aswell but I'm not sure they would understand it) but that's where I draw the line.
I find the same thing, especially when I write stories. There are always a few errors that sneak past. Sometimes I like to break the rules too, but in order to do that, you have to know them first.
DeleteI just commented about mistakes sneaking past me in blog posts and the second I click publish I notice that I've done it again.
ReplyDelete"...I was refuse..."?
I think you'll find that should be "I would refuse".
:)
DeleteI feel that we should strive for excellence, but we won't always make it.
ReplyDeleteBut at least we're trying. :)
DeleteOMG UR RYT!
ReplyDelete[smirk]
Thx. UR 2 kewl.
DeleteA seriously tangential thought:
DeleteI saw one of your tweets' "You just can't ignore #grammar. Or gravity." But I think, "Sure you can... temporarily." And that reminds me of the lyric from Fallin' and Flyin' sung by Jeff Bridges in the movie Crazy Heart,
"Funny how fallin' feels like flyin'
for a little while"
I think social media feels like flying to most people.
My pet peeves are "there/they're/their" !
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked in a library I was amazed at the number of notices that had been put up (by 'educated' people!) that infringed this and other rules of grammar. On my late-shifts, when it was quieter, I would remove the offending ones and re-print them. No-one ever seemed to notice.
(Mind you, I seem to have a mental block with "its" in all its variant forms..... ;-p)
Another sticky one is an apostrope used with a name ending in 's' (Thomas's car instead of Thomas' car). I actually had an editor return a story to me with this "correction".
DeleteI thought both uses of the apostrophe were acceptable. Which one did the editor want you to use?
Delete-s' is used when the noun or pronoun is plural (the girls' wagon) but -s's is used when the noun or pronoun is singular (James's dog).
DeleteSee? I didn't know that! Thanks! ox
DeleteAll good points. It took thousands of years for our species to develop the sophisticated language we have today. Don't put it to shame 'senselessly.' Of course, we all make mistakes, but laziness in writing is a club in the face to our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteHa. Good point Erin. I wonder what the English language will look like in a hundred years...
DeleteGreat post. Grammar mistakes make me cringe. People who make the mistakes on social networks might be smart people out in the real world, but those of us who will never meet them anywhere but online will have no other opinion than there isn't much going on upstairs. And this girl says it takes ten minutes to correct her ten second posts? She needs to proofread her posts most of all. Yes, mistakes happen, but don't make it a habit.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Eric. Everyone makes mistakes (goodness know I make them), but making them consistantly without even trying is something that really irks me. I find it irksome. :)
DeleteIt's one thing to make a mistake once in a while, but not caring in the first place? That I can't abide.
ReplyDeleteIt's the not caring that gets me right here. And here. And also here.
DeleteA typo or two do not matter to me in social media. Particularly in media that encourage such rapid entries, you're going to hit the wrong key, or post it too quickly. But bad spelling and grammar indicate laziness on the part of the individual, which is disrespect for me as the recipient. If you won't reflect the least bit on your message, why should I weigh it much upon receipt?
ReplyDeleteI think Twitter gets a pass too, at least for computer speak because you only have 140 characters to work with. But if the writer isn't going to take the time to correct the blatant errors, why should the reader take the time to figure it out?
DeleteWhen someone takes the time to check their grammar or spelling, you know on some level they care. I would rather someone took the time to look over what they've written, than rush to the point of not caring about the outcome; leaving me feeling as if I wasn't worth the time to begin with. Mistakes happen - granted, it's only noticeable on a constant consistency. (Hugs)Indigo
ReplyDeleteBingo.
ReplyDeleteI work in a high school and I have a hard time not moaning out loud when I read some of the compositions the students put out. The grammar and spelling are way below grade level. Then there are the other students who make you want to cry because they write so well.
DeleteI do think that social media has definitely changed how well students spell but I also believe that the lack of encouragement to use non-electronic devices, like dictionaries, is also a major part of the problem.
It's a mindset I find deeply troubling, particularly the attitude towards spelling. Imagine if doctors found themselves unable to spell when writing prescriptions?
ReplyDeleteYeah, docs can spell – but, boy, is their handwriting messy! Which leads me to another beef: children aren't even being taught cursive writing in Ontario schools. Isn't that absolutely ridiculous?
Delete