We all, from time to time, make mistakes. I have a sweet Momm and Dadd that will read my writing and let me know if I make a mistake. And husband. And brother. And Snippy. And anyone else I might ask for feedback. Here, Facebook, Twitter, Ski Utah. Doesn’t matter. It’s important to me that I express myself clearly and part of that is not being ignorant of something I may have overlooked.

You wouldn’t hire someone who couldn’t be counted on to be consistent and professional, and writing well is part of that, even if it’s not the main focus of that person’s job. As an advertiser you’d quit giving a site money if it made mistakes too often.

Maybe not everyone has time for someone to help proofread their work. But it is starting to drive me totally crazy that so many people who have an online presence are simply terrible at spelling. Grammar and writing style are one thing. Sometimes I’m trying to convey something funny or snarky and write it a certain way that may not work for you. That’s allowed. I won’t pick on you for that. But if your ‘career’, no matter how serious, has you posting online, I think you should spell or have someone proofread your work.

Does it matter to you if you get a work email that is barely legible? Not a quick text from a friend written more to convey an idea than tell a story, but something that is supposed to be professional. I’ve been seeing some blogs, Facebook business pages, and Twitter accounts lately that have typos that hurt my brain. What would you do? I’m tempted to find the equivalent of the online ‘red pen’ and go around correcting people. But I’m betting it won’t make me many friends…