The One Where We Learn How to Spell America

One of my pastimes is reading the comments on YouTube and Hulu videos. If you've ever done this, then you know what I'm talking about. It's ridiculous and amazing all at the same time. People say things that are completely unfounded and illogical. As if that weren't enough, there are always others who are willing to reply to these illogical statements, creating whole conversations that make no sense to anyone. Now, if you're one of those people who avoid reading the comments, don't worry. I have examples.

First, I found the following comment on a CNN story about immigration (if I remember right):

"THIS IS AMERICAN, anyone living here MUST conform to OUR rules and laws, not their own when it clashes with civil law."

Everything in red is literally just copied and pasted from the forum into my blog post. Now, aside from the obvious inflammatory nature of the comment, the first thing I noticed was that the person misspelled a word. Normally, I don't care too much about others' spelling mistakes, but this one is a bit...uh...sigh...I give up.  It's just sad.


Of course, it's possible that this person is just trolling. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this word, I will now define trolling. It means intentionally posting a comment that is designed to inflame others. Usually the inflamed will begin commenting on how stupid the troll is, or how he needs to go back to school and learn how to write/think. Either that or the troll will start a "flame war", which happens over controversial issues like immigration. The readers pick sides and proceed to write posts on the forum that ridicule the other side. So, the author of this comment may be a troll...but still, there are a lot of people who comment on videos and stories and make similar mistakes. Not all of them are trolls. When did it become acceptable to be less formal in writing than in spoken communication? Please don't blame texting. While that might be part of the problem, I think it's really a generational failing. Specifically, my generation and my parents' generation (more on this at a later date). Personally, I'm of the opinion that you should take extra care with grammar and spelling when everything you say is being, more or less, permanently recorded. People may forget your poor speech habits if they spend enough time away from you, but someone can just open their web browser and reread what you wrote....yeah. No bueno.

Here's a bonus quote from a YouTube video:

"There is friction in space.
There is no GRAVITY in space."

~The Piebald Penguin
P.S. Ok, so I can't resist commenting on the YouTube comment. If there's no GRAVITY in space, then how do we have days and years? What keeps the moon in its orbit? Or the earth? Sigh.