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Gen Z Netiquettes

manyonepercents.substack.com

211–220 of 269 posts

Re: Gen Z Netiquettes

#211

> 9. Capitalizing the first letter in a sentence will reveal where you are This one really surprises me, if someone contacted me without bothering to type a proper sentence I would just think they're an idiot. Everyone I know always starts a sentence with a capital letter, no matter the platform. They all know how to use the shift key. This isn't even gate keeping, people use slang all the time, it is basic English.…

i've just taken the most basic of looks over my DMs in various platforms and i'd put it at 50% starting with caps, and some of those messages are off people i'd consider pretty clever

Re: Gen Z Netiquettes

#212
Total side thought - people capitalizing letters at the start of sentences because they're on mobile and not because they're on a laptop, would be a fantastic clue in a detective novel to flag up what device someone is sending messages with.

Re: Gen Z Netiquettes

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

capitalization conveys essentially no information in itself, so it would be a waste to continue mindlessly using it when it could be encoded with additional information. Part of what we are seeing with evolving norms is the fat being cut from written english. is our completely redundant capital chatacter set REALLY being used to its fullest extent right now? An "idiot" does things without knowing or considering why.…

Your message was literally harder to parse without capitalization.

There’s a beautiful irony in claiming people who don’t use capitalisation are idiots/lazy, followed up by complaining that you struggle to parse a sentence without capitalisation.

Your views say far more about your own intelligence/laziness than anyone else’s.

Re: Gen Z Netiquettes

#215
post #211

> 9. Capitalizing the first letter in a sentence will reveal where you are This one really surprises me, if someone contacted me without bothering to type a proper sentence I would just think they're an idiot. Everyone I know always starts a sentence with a capital letter, no matter the platform. They all know how to use the shift key. This isn't even gate keeping, people use slang all the time, it is basic English.…

i've just taken the most basic of looks over my DMs in various platforms and i'd put it at 50% starting with caps, and some of those messages are off people i'd consider pretty clever

Yes, the idea that capitalisation correlates with intelligence is absurd. OP has a serious superiority complex.

Re: Gen Z Netiquettes

#217
post #65
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this often meeting 'zoomers' in person. In contrast to the glued to the phone cliche, they're often enormously attentive, in an almost pained way. Incredibly careful in how they speak and - in accordance with the 'triggered' cliche - very easily upset or offended. Not only by transgression of their numerous linguistic prohibitions, but even misunderstandings about potential transgressions. The simplest way to…

> the worst interpretation something someone says is accurate Well, to give just a few examples: * The worst interpretation of a sentence said by politicians is usually accurate * In contractual law, the worst interpretation of a clause is the one you need to prepare for * In advertising, the absolute worst interpretation of a phrase is usually accurate * If you get a letter of recommendation, the worst interpretatio…

Also code. The worst possible thing that can happen in code will be the thing that inevitably happens and with much more frequency than anticipated.

Re: Gen Z Netiquettes

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I get the feeling that a lot of the grinding reactions to this article in the comments here are from people who never lived in the IRC days, or chatted with their friends on AIM, MSN messenger, etc. Not everything is an email, and young people have found ways to convey subtext in shared digital superset of English, nothing wrong with that.

I used IRC. I always capitalized.

Not everyone follows the "netiquette" though. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Most of these rules rang very true to me at least. For example, capitalizing letters in _informal_ chats does give off a formal tone. This doesn't mean no one does it, but it's definitely a thing.

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