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December 28, 2008 07:44 PM

Why do people still use all caps when posting online? Ignorance? Deliberate?

Long ago, it was assumed that people who posted in all caps were ignorant to the fact that it is considered yelling. I can't believe that is the case anymore as popular as the web is. So, why do people still do it? Is it because they want to stand out. I find it annoying and indicative of someone who is not serious about being here (or elsewhere). Is it just me, or does everyone else find this incredibly annoying?
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December 28, 2008 08:12 PM
I tend to use it as an emphasis on a specific word or emotion. I truly dislike people that type that why all of the time.

Here are some people's opinion and sites about CAPS LOCK ;)

FROM: http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2006/08/caps-lock-must-die.html
"There's no denying the caps lock key can be a pain. How often have you accidentally found yoUR TYPING ALL UPPER-CAse because you accidentally pressed it? Or been locked out of your computer because Caps Lock keeps messing with your password?"

FROM: http://groups.google.com/group/capsoff
"Description: Welcome to the CAPSoff group! Subscribe if you want to join the campaign against the CAPS key, or if you want to help us construct and run this campaign. Right now we're building the CAPSoff organisation, using only free Google services. Our slogan: STOP SHOUTING!"

From: http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/16/1225239
"I've launched a campaign to rid the world of the caps lock key. Sure, there are more serious problems to solve but please, think of the children! How am I going to explain to my kids why some of the most valuable keyboard real estate is squatted by a large, useless key that above all you must not press! Our campaign mission is simple: to send a message to the computer industry to force it (by any means necessary) to retire the CAPS key. It's going to be a hard, long, and possibly very embarassing war on uppercase, but some things just need to be done. "
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December 28, 2008 08:03 PM
Because sometimes emphasis is needed!

Most of the times however it's just people being ignorant, young, or a combination of both.

I hate it as well Darcy.

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December 28, 2008 08:10 PM
Because people like to shout their answers. If they need to emphasize something, then they post in all caps. I do not like it, or believe it's needed. I would rather people put **stars** around something or "quotes" to emphasize something important.

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December 28, 2008 08:23 PM
Most of the time I think it is due to ignorance on their part, those posting as such have no idea that posting in all caps is considered rude and a form of yelling online.

However, there are others that do this because they want attention and have to be "different", even if it means being rude/annoying. Depending on the situation I will often try to ignore people that type with all caps and hope they just go away or stop doing so in the future in order to get a response from me... other times I feel like being nice and I just pretend they are not being annoying.

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December 28, 2008 11:39 PM
Not everyone is aware nor respectful of so-called "netiquette".

Some elderly people who've gotten a relatively new computer for the first time might liken it to the "good old days" when they'd use a teletype (some models of which would only print out in upper case). Youngsters with internet access might be daft in general and not care about hitting the capslock to unset upper case characters.

It's annoying, but considering that the responsible party might not know what the right thing to do is, let alone care, it might not be worth it to beat them over the head with their ignorance. Fun under certain circumstances, but generally not worthwhile! ;-D

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