All Caps

[WB6DGN]

I read on another forum where a poster was, in my opinion, embarrased for typing in all caps on his post. In my opinion, some of the subsequent posts were blatantly sarcastic and unnecessary. Being a "computer hater" to begin with, I had to wait a while before addressing this issue until I "calmed down". Yes, I understand that, in computerspeak, typing in all caps is supposed to denote "yelling". In my opinion that may be all well and good for a chat room or other "social" exchange, but, in a technical forum such as this one, I don't believe it has a place. Also, yelling, in a face-to-face situation, is a physical assault on a person's sense of hearing. Where is the "computerese" equivalent? Since my earliest writing, I have learned that capitals were just one method to be used to EMPHASIZE a point or word (as I have just done) and throughout my college years, I used the method often. I believe the technical arena is much better served by this application without all the computerese. After all, regardless of the media, this is still the English language! Just because it is being conveyed by electronic means doesn't, and shouldn't, make a gnat's eyebrow of difference. Then, there's the need for so many people to jump into the fray with comments, not all nice! Reading the thread, it seemed way beyond "constructive criticism". Enough said on this; I leave it to the individual poster to examine his/her own motives for their post. Finally, I note that my sensitivity to this issue may be the result of my own experience; having been the victim of the same kind of ridicule when my respondent couldn't adequately refute my argument on it's merits. PLEASE FOLKS, forget the computerese on this forum and stick with technospeak! It will be better for everybody!

[wavetar]

You're going to have to get used to it, I think. Typing a single word or phrase in caps to emphasize a point is perfectly acceptable. But for as many years as I've been on the internet, typing in all caps is considered rude at best, a sign of mental retardation at worst, and ignorant otherwise. This has applied to every type of bulletin board, chat room, forum, etc I've ever taken part in.

I know which thread you're referring to, and I also think some of the responses were a little uncalled for. However, people need to grow a thick skin when dealing with strangers on the internet.

So with that, this little off-topic thread goes to the land of locked posts.

Todd