Just popping in, and don't have time to read all the messages in this thread, but I have read some. When I read a book or magazine, spelling and grammar is important to me. It doesn't have to be perfect, but at least show a reasonable effort. I need a refresher course of grammar and usage myself. I've found, or so it seems, that some things I was taught are now different. Either that, or I'm seeing a lot of wrong usages, which could just as well be true. For instance, I was taught that when you use a colon, before you list what you're listing or emphasizing (since a colon means, "Pay attention to this!"), your sentence before the colon should be a complete one: Then you begin the next sentence or your list with a capital letter, as this sentence does. However, I see a lot of this rule being ignored or maybe it's changed, and I see people not using the capitalization.

In live chatting, or on message boards, I don't mind so much. I also use shorthand (OMG, u for "you", not always capitalizing sentence beginnings or "I", etc.), and it's not because I'm lazy, but because I usually view chatting as a way to relax with friends. Unless, of course, I were chatting in a professional way, say as a writer representing myself and/or my publisher. In that case, I want to show I know how to write and punctuate.

Also--and this is an important one--whether in writing or in conversation, if you must insult or criticize me, spell it write, punctuate it correctly, capitalize as required, and make sense! Is that too much to ask? Because I'll call you on it.