Why Not Type In All Caps?

I know that I'm answering my own question, but hopefully this will stop some of the complaining, and help people realize why people complain about posts created in ALL CAPS, or other non standard English typing style.

When we read, we do not read individual letters, we read more the shape of words, not what letters the words are made up of. Most reading we do is written in lower case letters, so that's what our brain recognizes quickly.

So When You Type Paragraphs, Capitalizing The First Letter Of Each Word It Lowers The Readability Of The Paragraph, And Lowers Our Reading Speed By Probably 25%.

TYPING IN ALL CAPS LOWERS READING SPEED BY 40-50%.

TyPiNg In AlTeRnAtInG CaP lOwEr CaSe LeTtErS iS JuSt PlAiN UnReAdIBlE.

So, saying all that, when I come across posts of people that type in one of the style of one of the three samples above, I usually skip them because they are just unreadable, and I don't have the time to try to decypher what they're trying to say.

Thank you for providing the stats for what I know intuitively: I simply can't read those unconventional formats. My brain shuts down. It can't process that level of non-standard syntax for more than a few fragments and simply stops trying.

Are you nuts? Why would you read so much into how people type? Just read it, sheesh. Can you deesiifer this? If not, just skip my post.

You are my hero for posting this, yes.

Something else that bothers me greatly is when people don't put spaces after punctuation,so they are typing like this.It is greatly annoying to read,and...just typing like that was painful.

You're missing the point. This isn't a judgment on syntax, it's a description of the way some people process information.

Some people have no problem reading words letter by letter, but I'm not one of them. I can't "just" read it. I can start reading it, then my brain literally stops supplying meaning for what I'm looking at.

You obviously process visual information differently. Wonderful for you. But dismissing other people's issues with such disdain is missing an opportunity to learn the diviersity of human experience.

The OP is trying to be helpful here, not nitpicky. It is significantly more difficult to read posts where the caps are overused. Sure, we all could just skip the posts of people who type this way - but does it really serve the person who's asking for help to have her/his posts ignored by a significant number of people who just don't want to bother hurting their eyes?

Okay, maybe you don't care if someone reads your post or not - but think about this - you're being rather inconsiderate towards those who might have a minor visual impairment or for whom English is not their first language.

There is also the commonly held standard that when communicating text-only, something in all caps is the same as shouting. That has been standard netiquitte for well over a decade.

If you wouldn't shout in somebody's face, then don't type entire posts in all caps.

Ashlee, it's not a matter of "just read it." The purpose of my post was to explain to people, that if they want others to actually take the time to read their post, then they need to type in a standard style. Most people skip posts that are not typed in a standard style, so probably, a lot of good information is being missed because it's just visually hard to read.

im sorry i started this whole thing by being overexcited and using caps for my post about my new sim! i apologize, for the first time ever, because someone had a rational argument and was very polite and matter-of-fact abot it. i dont give a rats ass about some creep who posts 3 sentences about caps and is a snot and thats it...i DO however care about the people who read and reply and give opinions about type, or people who explain that they simply cannot read or would if was typed better for them...i prefer to read caps myself but i live in a world where unfortunately and obviously that will never be....LMAO
so i will assimilate and express what i want to get across

to all those who were even slightly offended im sorry and i hope you can save your afternoon from my ruinous fingertips


sit long, talk much
Elyse

Because how you say something can convey as much information as what you say. People who use unconventional means of trying to convey their message are trying to increase the apparent importance of what they are saying. In reality they are saying their message has little merit of its own.

I've always considered typing in CAPS as reserved for certain emotions:
excited or anger, either in over doses is annoying...alarming.
It's just something to ppls text senses.

WeLLCoME tO tHE EaSt CoASt VeRSiON BtW

East Coast Baybeeeee!

"/me Holds Up Devil Fingers"

I vote we sticky this. Do I hear a second?

IDUNNOSOMEHOWITHINKTYPINGINALLCAPSMAKESTYPINGEASIERSINCEYOUDONTNEEDTOBOTHERWITHALLTHISSHIFTSTUFFALSOLEAVINGOUTSPACESANDPERIODSANDSTUFFSAVESTIMETOOIGUESSITSHARDERTOREADBUTWHOCARESIMTYPINGITNOTREADINGITNOWMAYBESOMEONESHOULDADRESSTHEISSUEOFPEOPLEWHOLIKETOSPAMALLINCAPSBECUASEOFTHEIRWOOTCLUBORWHATEVERBUTNORMALLYSPEAKLIKEEVERYONEELSEISNTTHATLIKEHYPOCRYTICALORDOTHEYJUSTLOSEENSIUSMWHENNOTALKINGABOUTHEIRAWESOMEPLACETOPARTYWOOTANDSTUFF.

i'm "old it hurts my brain" have pitty on an "old person"

*cry*

actualy yes

I dont care if someone "shouts" at me or whatever I just want to be able to read it hehe

middle aged person with astigmatism and bifocals have mercy on us people ^^ (please?)

And When You Start Each Word With A Cap... You Start To Sound Like Kirk From Star Trek...

My... Ship... My... Crew... My... God... Spock... Do You Realize... That Our Universal Translators Must Work That Much Harder To Cope With My Bizzare Form... Of Enunciation?

Oh BOY, 2nd life Moost be crawshing or doonif we can stend eachother messawges like thiese.

I read a post by someone who seemed to Capitalize Letters for completely Arbitrary Reasons. I still cannot Figure Out why this Poster Types like this.

I'll 'third' it - even though I don't know how things get 'stickied'. Wilhelm's example is a good one of how it is rather discriminatory to post in hard to read formats. We don't want to be age-ist or anti-disability here, do we?

LOL! Yes, there is at least one person on this forum who does that consistently. My impression is that they are European, and there is admittedly a different punctuation tradition in Europe, but I don't know if that is a contributing cause.

I can just manage to read those posts because the caps are spaced far enough apart to give my eyes time to scan, but it is probably on the outer limit of what I'll tolerate. The posts are usually worth the effort, but mileage may vary for other folk.

Best laugh I've had today. Thanks, Jopsy.

LMAO... thanks for the laugh. I was just trying to shed light on things to make it easier on people... I'm glad some have a sense of humor! LOL

I'm for a fourth and will raise the ante by adding that typing "u" in place of "you" is guaranteed to render your post unread by 95% of your audience, all of whom will assume that you are a barely literate 15 year-old who belongs on the teen grid*.

(*unless your post is a parody making fun of barely literate 15 year-olds who belong on the teen grid...)

yeah the U thing is something that when I start seeing it I turn off thinking I am dealing with a kid. I had a class once ingame where the teacher was doing that I kinda thought hrm .. and stopped going. It was also class that you could not ask questions it was just horrible hehe suffice it to say I never went back not to mention I think they no longer exist.