People often rude or dumb online

When I go online, I go to lots of different websites: Facebook, Tumblr, StumbleUpon (the cheater’s way to find cool websites) and others. The communities are all very different, and people like to make fun of those on other sites. One thing is the same, though: the irritating way people talk.

On Tumblr, for example, there is a lot of slang that would seem like gibberish to those not used to it. What does it mean to “ship” a couple? What’s up with the whole YOLO thing? What is a dashboard, and why would you want notes on it?

On Facebook, many people seem to find it OK to say things they wouldn’t get caught dead saying in real life. The protection of a screen, even on an extremely personal site like Facebook, lets people say things they normally wouldn’t, just because it’s not “real life.” For example, people will message or comment mean things because they think they’re not held accountable. People also say extremely personal information in statuses, not realizing that not everyone wants to know those kinds of details.

Another Facebook annoyance is people who over-comment, over-post and over-like. If you “like” everything you see or separate a three-sentence comment into three separate comments, it only takes up extra space and causes way too many notifications. Just consolidate, and type everything out before you click post.

People don’t like using correct grammar online either. When I scroll through my Facebook newsfeed, I see postings using “da” instead of “the,” and words misspelled for no apparent reason. Deliberately acting less intelligent online is no different than deliberately acting less intelligent in person: Don’t do it unless you really are that brainless.

An especially irritating occurrence is chat and text abbreviations used in statuses. It’s fine to abbreviate when typing quickly in instant messenger or text messages, but if you’re taking the time to write out a status, there’s no point in shortening words. You just sound like an imbecile. This isn’t Twitter—there is no character limit to what you post.

And speaking of Twitter, people misunderstand the usefulness of Tweets. Many people use Twitter as a way to constantly update people on their every action. Tweets are only interesting if you’re a celebrity.

Lots of people online have issues understanding which website to use for what. Don’t use Facebook to post diary entries. That’s what Tumblr and other blogging sites are for. And don’t use Tumblr to tell everyone what you’re doing every second of the day. It’s not Twitter. It’s OK to post interesting things about your life, but know when to post and when to save it for your diary.

If the Internet is used correctly, it can be fun and useful for communicating. But it’s when people forget basic grammar or don’t understand basic social interactions, that it just gets on my nerves.
Oh, and for those who were wondering, “shipping” a couple means you think they should be together (whether or not the people involved agree is another matter). YOLO stands for “you only live once.” A dashboard is Tumblr’s “homepage,” and notes are when people like or reblog posts. The Internet is much less annoying when it makes sense.