*zOmG* ur a iDiOT!!!!
while my grammar-nazi-ing has been well documented, i also really appreciate good formatting. i’m a very visual person, so underlining, highlighting, italicizing, bolding, font color/size, charts… all of those things make my OCD heart aflutter when used correctly. incorrect use of formatting, however, makes me want to stab myself in the eye. examples of such offences include: emoticons, random capitalization or symbols-as-decoration.
the quickest way to plummet down in my esteem? have a handle like “*~*jULia*~*” or “cHri$toPHeR”. i actually met someone who had used ampersands on her vanity license “because they looked pretty!” and i was physically unable to come up with anything to say to her after i found that out. vanity plates are bad enough, but they’re unforgivable when it says “&mary&”
i’ll think about writing off such atrocity when the author is a 12 year old. but even then, my immediate reaction is to hope that the kid has a learning disability rather than being actually brain damaged. (it doesn’t help that the only people who butcher writing like this are also the same assholes using ’text-speak’. while not a formatting issue, it is definitely something that needs to end because i PROMISE you that your dignity is worth more than the time it saves you.)
i’m hardly a role model for use of capitalization, but even i can’t condone the flagrant stylizing- it does not make you look ‘cool’ or ‘unique.’ similarly, there is no way to use an umlaut incorrectly and not look like a tool. just do the world a favor and drop the flourishes. spend less time on decorating what you write and more time on formulating the thought behind it.
