zlacker

Just seen their departure tweets (link below) What’s with this annoying trend of omitting capital letters from comms?

https://x.com/gdb/status/1725667410387378559?s=20

>>urband+(OP)
Glad I’m not the only one who finds this irritating. I once applied to a job and the manager replied using all lower case letters.

I guess he was trying to seem cool and approachable, but to me it just reads as unprofessional. I find it hard to take a piece of writing seriously when it’s formatted that way.

>>urband+(OP)
And I thought I was the only one that didn’t like this kind of writing. No capitalization, writing “i” instead of “I” and generally trying to write as fast as possible.

I guess that’s what happens if you’re working 60-100 hours per week coding ChatGPT, and you don’t have time to waste. Sometimes I feel sorry for these kind of people and other times I envy them.

>>keifer+L
Oh that’s great, we’re more who find such kind of writing unprofessional. Especially spelling errors in CVs, formatting errors in documents/presentations, one sentence paragraphs and similar kind of things.

It might indicate intelligence and people who are extra busy, thus not wasting their time, but depending on the position and circumstances a nicely written text is essential.

>>urband+(OP)
capital letters at the beginning of a sentence are deprecated, as they offer no tactical or semantic advantage. worse yet, they break the flow and consistency of written text.

>>urband+(OP)
They think they are being cute and cool. "Look I am sloppy and don't care how others perceive me".

>>urband+(OP)
Power play.

>>NKosma+c2
I started to write my comment in all lower case letters as a joke, but it was taking too long to cancel each autocorrect suggestion. So I definitely don’t buy the “I’m too busy” reason.

I think the main reason I find it unprofessional is that it is such a distraction. Professional communication should be clear and “get out of the way” so that the focus can be on the ideas being discussed.

>>urband+(OP)
That has got to be some sort of code

>>system+D2
Very similar to “I don’t care about fashion, that’s an outdated social conformity thing” while wearing the same hoodie and jeans uniform as everyone else.

>>system+D2
it takes extra steps to add capitals. and spell checking a short text? can you not figure out what is being said?

imagine being someone that is just being quick, and everyone around you is inferring some motive like 'being cool', when really he isn't thinking of your perceptions at all.

>>Frustr+i4
It’s hardly a “short text” it’s effectively his resignation speech.

Each to their own I guess. For me the attempted use of correct punctuation is a reassuring social norm. It reassures me that those entrusted with power are able to pay attention to details and conventions.

To put it another way, if we can’t trust these guys to even write a message properly, how can we trust them with the stewardship of the most advanced AI the world has ever seen?

>>Frustr+i4
Why do we even have capital letters, I wonder.

>>urband+(OP)
>comms

Ironically some of us haven't gotten used to this yet either.

But it does look very weird. the full stop at the end of a capitalless sentence followed by an ellipsis is what sticks out to me, seems very tryhard.

>>Frustr+i4
On the phone it autocorrects. On pc, Grammarly literally makes everything perfect even if you make grammar mistakes including capitals.

>>dontup+2g
Apologies! Irony not lost.