Netiquette rhymes with Bullshit

If you are tired of people telling you what is acceptable and what is not based on years (let's face it...now decades) worth of outdated ideas based on standards that are no longer used, then you're in the right place.

Want to do things your own way? Blaze your own fucking path? Perfect.

What is with the constant stream of articles, complainers, and style bullies who continue to insist that typing in all caps means that you are screaming? Have these people ever read or written anything?

Let's get something straight here. The invention and use of the internet (yes, I stopped capitalizing "internet" as of this moment in a blaze of glory to cut my own path) is not the first time that the English language has been used in writing. Here's a shocker: The internet and the people who use it are not in charge of how I interpret what is written.

While it is true that writing in all capital letters, or as some would write it..."in all CAPS," is not exactly proper, I CAN WRITE HOWEVER I FUCKING WANT!

Let's analyze the thought of this being equivalent to screaming. First of all. It is not screaming. Although, the interpretation of language is the realm of the reader, not the writer, though some set of often accepted standards do exist. If you could control the way your expressions were interpreted, then you would always be completely understood. However, you are not always understood. This is true even when you think you have expressed yourself very clearly.

Have you ever had a misunderstanding with someone in person? Has this ever happened even when you thought you were extremely clear in your communiciation? Yes, I thought so. Actually, I knew this to be true, but I was being modest. See how quickly my modesty went out the window?

TYPING IN ALL CAPS CAN ELIMINATE THE WRITER'S ABILITY TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES BY NOT USING LOWER CASE CHARACTERS, BUT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT THEY ARE SCREAMING. YOU COULD USE lower case TO emphasize IDEAS, INSTEAD OF EMPHASIZING THEM IN upper case. SETTING A SET OF STANDARDS FOR YOURSELF AND APPLYING THEM IS your option, NOT NECESSARILY
theirs. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET them CONTROL YOU. SEE WHAT I DID THERE? fuck THEIR RULES!

And who is perpetuating these old "rules" anyway? You'll quickly find that it's people who are looking to find rules so they can live by them, and not by people who are looking to forge their own path in the world.

Do you need more rules to live your life? If the answer is "yes," then you are in the wrong place right now. Go away! Stop reading this. Go read "The Rules" or something like that. There are tons of people who are very happy to tell you how to live your life and make things work in their favor. Do you really need that?

Embrace this opportunity to break out of that mold. LIVE WITHOUT their rules! control your own life!

This is a place to explore and find the rules that we may mistakenly accept and embrace, sometimes without knowing what those rules are.

If you think of some rules that have been set and that people, yourself included, are foolishly following, then let me know. Post them here. These are perfect topics for future rants by yours truly.

-NetRanter