It's always bothered me when people don't bother using proper grammar and spelling when communicating on the Internet. This is no secret; it's a fact I widely publicize and one I am rather proud of. I also take most opportunities I get to correct people when they mess up, and sometimes people are grateful for it. Usually, though, they come up with a particularly annoying and shoddy excuse (although usually spelled rather worse): “You can understand what I'm trying to tell you, so it's fine.”

Now, it's true that it's often possible to discern what the message is the other person wants to get across—I would not dispute that. Bad grammar can cause confusion, but it is indeed possible to understand sentences like “were r u g oin” with a little creativity. No, that's not what bothers me, really.

What bothers me is the implication that the bare minimum is good enough, that as long as the other half of the conversation can work out the intended message, we're golden. This disturbs me greatly; when did we stop striving towards excellence in our daily lives? When did we decide that the most minimal of efforts should be good enough? When did we become this lazy?

Neither I nor anyone else expect you to write prose that would rival Shakespeare (I'd be so lucky to write that well myself), but I do expect people to put in a bit more effort than the very basics. You can all do better than this! Spelling correctly is not difficult, and neither is avoiding stupid and lazy abbreviations like “u" and "r”. Sentences should be capitalized and punctuated. And that's it, really; you don't really have to pay attention to the more arcane rules of grammar, but do make an effort.

Anyway, the bottom line is that it dismays me that people seem to be content with putting in the least effort possible, and acting as if that's as far as we ever should go. It dismays me because it indicates a lack of desire to ever excel at anything, to push boundaries and try to better oneself and the world. It's true what they say: Sloppy writing is a sign of sloppy thinking. Conversely, elegant writing is a sign of an elegant mind, intent on not only doing the very least he can, but on making his words a thing of beauty as well as function.