There are boundaries in blogging and things you shouldn’t share because you shouldn’t “air your dirty laundry” but sometimes you break the rules for the greater good.
I am torn about whether I should share something with you. Torn because part of me feels badly about shining a light on a dark corner but I can’t ignore this any longer.
Are you ready for it?
I belong to a closed group on Facebook that consists of people who graduated from the same university as I did. There is nothing radical, magical or mysterious about that, but there is an issue.
Some Of The Members Are Illiterate
What bothers me is that there are a number of members whose writing makes me cringe because they come across as being virtually illiterate. Their posts are filled with multiple errors and issues and every time I read them I want to find out how they graduated.
I want to find their old English teachers and ask them how much they were paid to pass these guys and then I want to slap them silly because I don’t want them to represent my school. I don’t want them to devalue my degree and the reputation of the university.
Yeah, that does sound a bit extreme to me too but I would be lying if I said I didn’t wonder about it.
Did I mention that the perpetrators of these poor posts are all young enough to have had cellphones for years. Did I mention my suspicion is that a culture of texting has had a significant impact on their writing.
Do They Write This Way At Work?
Truth is I can’t tell you why they write so poorly so all I can do is share my impression and thoughts. Their work reads as a cleaner version of text speak. When I look at that in conjunction with their age I wonder if technology has made them dumberer.
I read their posts and wonder if their professional work is as sloppy and I just shake my head. Don’t they understand their words impact their coworker’s perception of who they are.
Sometimes I have to restrain myself from posting comments about how poorly written their posts are because I want to grab and shake some sense into them.
But I don’t really know these guys very well. Can’t say if they have a head filled with rocks or if they are brilliant men who are lazy writers.
Is It My Business?
It is not really my business to tell them they look like ignorant fools to me. Since we are acquaintances and not friends it is harder to present constructive criticism in a way that isn’t offensive.
But it is not easy to ignore, especially since perception has an impact upon the value of my degree. Perhaps that seems egocentric and obnoxious but the rules of the blog are simple–be honest.
So my honest word is that I don’t really worry about it but I wonder.
What about you? Do you think technology has had a negative impact upon writing?
