I'm not sure where this should go, so I've posted it in 'Suggestions and Feedback' for now. I'm a somewhat new member to the forum so I might need some forgiveness for this 'rant', but as I've read through various threads I've noticed that quite a few posters are using poor English in their posts. The worst offenders seem to be very new members, perhaps younger ones (though I can't know that for sure). I allow for this as we all have to start somewhere, and of course we're all capable (including me!) of the occasional typo or grammar error. However, ultimately this is a writing forum. Is it wrong for me to expect that more care is taken before a post is submitted and that the author should read it back to themselves to iron out any glaring errors in spelling and grammar before hitting the submit button? Or am I just being a stick-in-the-mud pedant? Is it OK to pick up a poster on their use of English or is the general feeling that the meaning is clear enough so the quality of the English isn't an issue?
I think we should attempt to write in proper English. However, we do have to remember that it is an international forum (so official spelling and grammar does vary). I also wouldn't want to put off people for whom (is that right?) English is their second language. To pick someone up on every error when they are trying to make themselves understood is annoying, and not very helpful (apart from in the review section).
I agree with BritInFrance on this. Pointing out errors in other people's posts can be annoying, even though reading them is annoying too (I mainly know this from discussions in my own language, where I have to keep myself from commenting on this all the time). Different people have different views on how much they should try. On the other hand, I think it's okay to do it for people who specifically ask for it. Which led me to the idea for my signature.
As a writing community, I agree that posts should be higher quality than most other forums. We've even included this in the site rules: That said, can you be more specific regarding the lower quality posts? Are you talking about LOL, memes, grammar, or something else? Edit: If we're talking strictly about grammar, we should strive to have higher quality, grammatical posts, but there's not much we can do to discourage bad grammar.
I was thinking of inappropriate spelling (your instead of you're, heal instead of heel, there instead of their, etc), bad spelling, particularly poor or bad grammar, and poor punctuation (sentences that can't be understood for their lack of a comma or two). Most of the more seasoned forum members aren't the culprits. It seems to be those who are new (or newer) to the forum and for whatever reason are perhaps being a bit lazy, maybe bringing habits from other forums where any attempt to correct such errors bring howls of protest. I'm not inclined to even try to correct all the time, I don't do that elsewhere as I have long since learned to let the net be in all but extreme cases. But here I just felt that some of the errors seem to be more about laziness in not doing a read through before submitting than because of a person's poor ability with the language.
This section is for feedback and suggestions about the site (which is why it is under Site Information), not for rants. Still, I feel your pain. We do have a policy listed in the rules discouraging the use of excessive netspeak. Beyond that, however, It's a matter of taking personal pride in your writing. There's no real point in making a big deal of every poorly written post outside the Writing Workshop. Just know that if you are on this site, you presumably intend to make yourself a better writer. People will form an opinion about you, and much of that will be based on how you write, in casual posts as well as in pieces you post for critique. Besides, the best way to improve is to make good writing a full-time habit, not something you stick in the wardrobe next to your dusty prom clothes when you aren't doing "real" writing. So yes, I am going to close this thread, because it doesn't belong here. Even if I do happen to agree with it in spirit.
