The Use of Capital Letters on the Web AND Netiquette.

(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 7/6/2007)

I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO START THIS, BECAUSE EVERYTHING I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT IT IS MIXED UP IN MY HEAD, BUT I AM GOING TO TRY TO SAY WHY I THINK IT IS A LIE TO "ASSOCIATE THE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS WITH SHOUTING AND THEREFORE NOT ALLOW IT". I BELIEVE WE MUST TOLERATE THE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS HOWEVER THOSE WHO WRITE FREELY ON THE INTERNET WISH TO USE THEM. ITS PROHIBITION, MOSTLY IN WEB FORUMS, IS AN IMPOSED LIE, OR RATHER CREATED BY SOMEONE, POSSIBLY WITH GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT ONLY USED MALICIOUSLY BY INTOLERANT INEXPERTS IN WEB FORUMS WHO MERELY SEEK AN EXCUSE TO CARRY OUT THEIR ANTICS AS MODERATORS. IN MOST CASES, TO MAKE USE OF THE DELETE/EDIT BUTTON AND FEEL LIKE SOMEONE IMPORTANT ON THE INTERNET.

What is netiquette? A brief summary, which is generally accepted by everyone: Netiquette, a word derived from the French étiquette (good manners) and the English net or network, is the set of rules that govern the behavior of a user in a newsgroup, a mailing list, a discussion forum, or email (e-mail).

In the same way that a protocol exists for physical encounters with people, the so-called Netiquette describes a protocol that should be used when making electronic "contact."
The first thing to clarify is that I do not intend to justify the use of ALL CAPS in every type of writing; there are some where the need not to use it prevails—for instance, a work message. But for the rest of the messages, those public messages that reach everyone and that anyone can read and participate in, which are mere opinions and/or views, I find it truly pointless to try to justify one's own incompetence by banning all-caps writing.

-- These “gentlemen” of strict netiquette control, as far as capital letters are concerned, usually say that using them throughout the entire message is an “abusive use” of them.
Abusive use? Abusive of what? Isn't using lowercase letters, perhaps, abusing lowercase letters? If I write a message half in uppercase and half in lowercase, am I balancing its use? Is there abuse or is there no abuse in this case? These are questions that find no answer, and I was never able to find one from any of those who “enforce this rule.” I am convinced they don't have an answer.

-- Some say that writing entirely in capital letters means the person is shouting.
Here we have to see if the person has the habit of living “at full scream”; perhaps shouting might be common and natural for them. And what if the person doesn't shout but speaks loudly? Speaking forcefully is different from shouting, and in both cases, one speaks LOUDLY. Is it possible to determine which of the two cases the use of capital letters might be due to, should it be one of these two? It is impossible, but it is impossible because the rule itself is ridiculous.

Now let's suppose the person does not habitually “live at full scream”; how is it possible on the internet to associate shouting with letters? Did they study graphology and are now applying it online? It is an argument so weak that even a preschooler could shatter it with a shout. It stems from something as INCONSISTENT as associating physical reality with virtual reality; they view the act of writing as absolute, when it is not.

Let's imagine one last case: that of a person who, without hurting anyone, decides to shout and likes to shout, and shouts with all their heart because shouting feels good. Is it wrong? Does it affect anyone? In real life, it might indeed affect those around, unless they happen to be cheering for a team; but right here on the internet is where the difference is marked. From behind the screen, shouting affects no one. One can shout as loudly as possible in front of a hundred, a thousand, or two hundred thousand people, and not a single one will suffer the slightest discomfort in their ears, their focus, or anything else. The difference between shouting in person and shouting in virtual reality is crystal clear: in virtuAliTy it isn't bothersome, and instead of taking advantage of this benefit, SOME PEOPLE try to impose something as ridiculous as denying reality—and in this case, virtual reality.

-- Another argument brandished by these gentlemen BOTHERED by the use of capital letters on the internet, preferably in forums, is the one that says “that using capital letters gives the appearance of being angry.”

It goes without saying that this is not an argument, and we return to the previous point. A simple question gives us the answer: how is it possible to know someone's mood over the internet solely through the use of capital letters? The inability to answer this in the affirmative gives us the solution: it is an entirely meaningless argument. I admit one can recognize, or get an idea—however minimal—of a person's mood through what they write, but not through the format it takes. By this same VACUOUS logic, one could think that someone writing entirely in italics lives life in a rush, and so on. Consider someone who writes a sequence of three or four jokes all in caps and then, also in caps, laughs at other jokes—is it possible to think that person is angry?

Unfortunately, I know no further “arguments” from the gentlemen who apply the rule against using capital letters in writing—gentlemen who do not hesitate to drop the word “netiquette” while in many cases knowing nothing of the French language, and occasionally stumbling through Spanish. What I do have in abundance are reasons to justify the use of capital letters in writing for those who wish to do so and proceed accordingly.

-- For a moment, let's think about people who have vision problems, who cannot see well, who have some difficulty, however minor, and for whom seeing capital letters improves their reading of the text and does them good. Why should these people with a physical impairment be deprived of feeling better and not having to strain their eyes just for the whim of a select few? The Windows OS includes a feature called “Magnifier,” web browsers include a feature called “Zoom,” etc. In short, these are features specifically developed for people with vision difficulties. Now, if there are people who can avoid these functions simply by using capital letters, and it doesn't affect the rest in any way, what is the problem with using them? Is supposed netiquette more important than a health issue? Where is the solidarity?

-- An inconsistency present in many forums is allowing abbreviations typical of text messages, which consist of shortening words—for example, “u” instead of “you” or “pls” instead of “please,” and so forth. Yet this is not considered bad, nor is it seen as a violation of netiquette rules.

And what is worse, the literal corruption of language is commonly accepted—for instance, writing “k” instead of “okay.”

Yet the SAME PEOPLE who accept these expressions deny—deny to themselves—the act of writing a text in capital letters. That is of AN IRREPARABLE GRAVITY for THESE INDIVIDUALS.

-- And what is the Caps Lock key on the keyboard for? If it were only meant for capitalizing the start of a sentence or writing a proper noun, the existence of the “Shift” key would be enough; and not only would it be enough, but on every keyboard we have two “Shift” keys. So, the key specifically named “Caps Lock”—why was it included on the keyboard? To decorate it? To take up space? So that it wouldn't be used? And if it is used, it is meant for typing in capital letters.

These people who raise a hue and cry regarding the use of capital letters seem unaware of the existence of said key. Perhaps in their eagerness to deny a virtual reality, they attempt to deny a real reality; they see the key, but they refuse to see it. They are that kind of blind—not because they are actually blind, but because they do not want to see.

-- Let's talk a little about habit: about those people whose habit is the repetitive practice of writing everything in capital letters whenever they can. Why should a different practice be imposed on those people? If their habit is not bad, or as I see it, if it cannot be proven that such a practice is bad—at least I have never read anything to that effect—then I see no reason to make them change that habit of writing in capital letters merely for the whim OF A FEW.
I will conclude by stating what I think of all those—generally forum moderators, rarely an administrator, in my view due to the privileges administrators hold that spare them from resorting to such a crude excuse, besides the fact that administrators are always somewhat above moderators, but that is another topic—returning to the point, I believe these people use this netiquette rule for several reasons:

•    because they cannot adapt to reading uppercase text; it proves difficult for them
•    because it is a very simple excuse, and a simple brain contentedly settles for simple excuses that spare it from seeking more complex justifications
•    because they are intolerant, and this serves as an excuse to cover up that intolerance THEY SUFFER FROM
•    because it is a means that justifies arbitrariness when it comes to editing/deleting a message
•    because through this excuse, the attitude of “I'm in charge here” is made explicit
•    because they like to show off, and through this excuse, they get noticed, especially when dealing with the unsuspecting
•    because when they have no other argument, this one never fails to delegitimize what the other person wrote

in short, I can think of many more reasons, but all as ridiculous as the ones I have just listed. It only remains for me to say that this message is written entirely in capital letters, and the question is: did I write it all in uppercase, or at the end of having written it ALL IN LOWERCASE, did I select IT IN ITS ENTIRETY and, under MS Word-Format-Font, check the “All Caps” box? I leave this question for any censor of capital letters to answer, because this last point ends up being another one of my justifications.

WHILE I WROTE THIS AROUND 2007, NOW IN 2014, A SIGNIFICANT DECLINE HAS BEEN SEEN IN WEB FORUMS, AND THE WELL-KNOWN SOCIAL NETWORKS HAVE EMERGED. PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS DOES NOT ENCOURAGE WRITING, DEBATES, AND DISCUSSIONS, NOR DOES IT ENCOURAGE “MODERATION”; THEREFORE, THE “MODERATORS” HAVE DISAPPEARED AND THEY HAVE NEARLY ERADICATED THE “CONTROL OF CAPITAL LETTERS.” EVERYONE CAN WRITE AS THEY WISH WITHOUT BEING SUBJECTED TO THIS RABBLE OF FORUM MODERATORS, MODERATORS OF CAPITAL LETTERS, WHO ARE NOW NO LONGER THERE.