What’s your type?
Not in the romantic/attraction sense, in the uppercase/lowercase sense.
I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I have very specific rules for how I type based on the medium. I have no idea where these rules originated (it seemed like a rather organic evolution) but, however it is they came to be, now they are much-ingrained in my mind and my fingers.
Here are my rules:
Punctuation: No matter the medium, correct punctuation is a must. (Caveat: I do tend to get a little overzealous with the ellipses on Facebook posts.)
Abbreviations (i.e., “ur” instead of “your”): Again, this applies across the board — abbreviations are for the birds. I try to avoid them at all costs.
Text messages: For texts, I always write using correct capitalization. (Sample text: “Hi, Kevin! Want to order pizza from Papa John’s for dinner tonight?”)
Facebook Posts: Unlike text messages, in the Anna Stylebook there’s no capitalization needed in the Facebook world (unless capital letters are used for emphasis). (Sample Facebook post: nicole! i miss you, friend! i’m SO ready to see you over christmas.)
Emails: Again, back to the capitalization in this realm. Also, I like to split my emails into nice, readable chunks by creating paragraphs (not indented, mind you) with subject changes and natural breaks.
G-Chat: Facebook rules apply here as well. No caps, but punctuation, etc., must be correct.
That brings me to my latest medium: Blog
Which way to go? Facebook/G-Chat or Email/Text? I had to think about this before my first post, because the OCD gene in me wanted to be sure I was consistent from the start. Obviously, then, you can see I opted for the Email/Text version. I’m not quite sure, except that I guess this style seemed more definitive, and I wanted that for my blog.
And there you have it. Do you have a “type” that fluctuates as well?
In order of how likely I am to allow a little capitalization to slip, from none to ‘oh well I can’t be bothered to fix that’: emails, texts, Facebook. I use paragraph breaks in all, too.
No matter the medium, I also use correct punctuation, unless it’s on Twitter and I’m over my limit.
Speaking of Twitter: the first things to go are spaces between ellipses… then three becomes 3, then vwls where the word is distinguishable w/o them, then Im deleting apostrophes from contractions, then as a last resort ur gonna get abbreviations.
I try to keep most of the rules while chatting, but if the conversation is moving quickly or the other person(s) are better typists, I may let a few fall by the wayside. Self-imposed rules are made to be flexible, right?