Does the internet promote illiteracy or are people too lazy to check spelling?

A lot of people seem to forget how to spell and use grammar when they get on the internet.

People use the letter "U" when the proper word is you.

The usage of abbreviations that do not even exist such as w/o, I think it means without or b/c, I think it means because. These are not acceptable abbreviations because they are not in any dictionary or thesaurus.

Another pet peeve of mine is the usage of your when they mean you are, your is a possessive word, while you are is part of a atatement.

If you use the proper spelling and proper grammar then the questions you pose and the answers you give will make a lot more sense.Does the internet promote illiteracy or are people too lazy to check spelling?
You are one to talk of others when one of your question(s) posed on Y! Answers had the following grammar:



"Does cold temperatures affect knee replacements?"



Were you promoting or were you simply lazy to check? Practice what you preach, mister.



p/s: drshorty- more power to ya!
I don't think the internet promotes illiteracy, however, I do believe that there are a lot of illiterate people using the web.Does the internet promote illiteracy or are people too lazy to check spelling?
Yes, i agree with you.From t.v and music and the chat rooms some are really good at spelling in slang but, have them fill out a application and try to understand it or to say a word properly.Some are lost.
Are you really saying that you don't want people to come up with any new ways of expression? If we didn't have the ability to create new vocabulary items, where should we stop? 1900? 1800? 1500? No thanks, I'd rather have words like "computer" and "refrigerator" in my vocabulary.



The Internet is a new medium of communication, and with the invention of a new medium comes the invention of new forms of communication as well. There's no reason to try to stop language change or fear it. It's what makes language so vital and exciting.Does the internet promote illiteracy or are people too lazy to check spelling?
I'd say people are just too lazy these days. Our society puts too much emphasis on individuality and personal expression, not enough emphasis is put on grammar, and people just don't want to type the whole thing or think it is cute to use an abbreviation.



That said, I think we will see a lot of these things become common parts of the language. I wouldn't be surprised to see language experts recognize "u" as a valid spelling of "you" within a few decades. I used "w/o" as an abbreviation for "without" long before the Internet. A lot of today's common abbreviations will probably make it into the dictionaries if they remain in common usage.



Still, it's amazing how many typographical and grammatical errors you see out there these days, even in print publications.