Netiquette, by Virginia Shea, page 41
You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. For most
people who choose to communicate online, this is an advantage; if they
didn't enjoy using the written word, they wouldn't be there. So
spelling
and grammar do count. (Endnote #9)
If you're spending a lot of time on the net and you're shaky in these
areas, it's worth brushing up on them. There are plenty of books available, but you'll learn more -- and possibly have more fun -- if you take
a course. If you're an older adult (Endnote #10), you don't have to take a "bonehead
grammar" course with a bunch of bored teenagers. Instead, look for
courses on
proofreading and
copyediting; they usually cover the basic
rules of grammar pretty thoroughly, and they'll be filled with motivated
students who are there because they want to be. Check your local community college and university extension catalogs -- you'll be amazed at
what they offer. A side benefit is that taking courses involves meeting
people you can actually see.
Pay attention to the content of your writing. Be sure you know what
you're talking about -- when you see yourself writing "it's my understanding that" or "I believe it's the case," ask yourself whether you
really want to post this note before checking your facts. Bad information propagates like wildfire on the net. And once it's been through two
or three iterations, you get the same distortion effect as in the party
game "Operator": Whatever you originally said may be unrecognizable. (Of course, you could take this as a reason not to worry about the
accuracy of your postings. But you're only responsible for what you
post yourself, not for what anyone else does with it.)
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