Monday, November 26, 2012

Spelling and privacy..........

Bitch alert!

I really enjoy getting on Facebook and reading my friend's and family's status updates. But, Lord help us all, why the hell can't anyone spell anymore? Teachers, students, old people, young people........I cannot believe the spelling mistakes I see these days. And not just typos. Those are just going to happen. But when people really think "audition" is spelled "addishion" or "sense" is spelled "sence." You do not "set down," you "sit down." I  know I've ranted about this before, but honestly? I'm really worried about our society. Schools are no longer teaching cursive writing, did you know that? Not that anyone writes anything by hand anymore anyway. But can you imagine how our penmanship is going to look in ten years? Twenty? Kinda makes all those "old lady" perfectly-slanted letters seem a little more appealing now. The worst part is that no one even cares anymore. I know a few fellow spelling Nazis, but more often than not, people are just annoyed if you correct their spelling mistakes. And it takes about one second to look up a questionable word on dictionary.com. NOT urbandictionary, kids! That's not a real dictionary (gasp!). Once upon a time we had to haul out a big book and look things up in alphabetical order. Who knows what that is? Raise your hand!

And then........the privacy notices that everyone is posting on Facebook. I mean, for one thing, does anyone REALLY think posting something on Facebook will protect their privacy? The internet is NOT private. If you don't want the whole world knowing something, keep it in your own head. If it might embarrass you later, just don't post it. And if you see someone post some pseudo-legal-sounding something or other on Facebook, don't just be a sheep and follow the herd. For cryin' out loud, research it first! See what it's all about before you go looking like an idiot. It's so easy to just click "share" but do you even know what you're sharing? For the love...........just because all the cool kids are doing it, doesn't mean you have to.

And while I'm on a rant, let's talk about hashtags. You know those #littlenumbersigns you post after your latest tweet or instagram photo? Once in a while, it ok to include a hashtag. But when you post a picture of yourself with the following hashtags: #hottie, #instahot, #cute, #selfie, #instagood, #sexy, etc........why don't you just spell it out in simpler terms? D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-I-O-N. Why do people need to get a million "likes" or "followers" to feel fulfilled? Ever heard of being "tumblr famous?" It means that a ton of random strangers like your posts of cats making sarcastic comments. Whoa! Dream big.

We live in a fleeting world. What's hot today will be lame tomorrow. Everything moves so fast, there's no time to learn. I teach in a kindergarten class and it's amazing how fast these kids write and try to complete their work, regardless of the quality. It's all about being first, being fastest, being "done" so they can move on to the next big thing. Slow down, people! Take the time to look something up if you don't know how to spell it.Read it over before you hit "send." Research things before you post them on Facebook. Don't get all caught up in the hype. Think for yourself. And if you can't do that, then just stop writing and keep posting those cat pictures. I especially love the ones with typos in them. SMH.

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