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Originally Posted by onesnowyowl
Can you tell I am a future English teacher?
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Your post was quite a breath of fresh air, actually, in terms of elegant grammar and spelling. I'm a bit of a grammar freak myself when it comes to people not checking obvious mistakes and I know how frustrating it is when that happens.
I think the reasons that we try to type as we would speak on the internet ("we" being those of us who know good grammar and spelling) are related to the fact that we like to be personal and informal and, well, strictly speaking, following the rules of strict English grammar makes a person seem very formal, business-like and, at extremes, snooty. It is quite an unfortunate fact but if a lot of people I speak to regularly via the internet didn't have their own quirks and phonetic typing idioms then I wouldn't pick up on the natural, personal clues about what they are like in real life. In fact, I like to get my words correct in speaking just as in typing but I'm not perfect and I too have my own quirks. For example, I say "gonna" in real life because I talk quickly and because of my accent and I also use it on the internet a lot. I know full well to keep it out of essays and formal documents, though.
As a result of this, I really don't mind any more about grammar and spelling online because its probably more effective in helping people communicate in a personal, informal and sometimes fun way. The rules of grammar break down here because of the exact same reason that makes the internet such a great way for people to communicate: the wonderful diversity of people.
So i'm gonna just leave my grammar frustrations to published works and formal correspondence in future
Newspapers these days are terrible for that. I know they have deadlines but it really doesnt take much time to correct spelling and grammar. And in books, formal letters from big companies etc. Its everywhere unfortunately
Oops, I nearly forgot to comment on the "then" vs "than" thing. There really is no need for them to be confused. They don't even sound the same when you pronounce them. But since so many people are dyslexic, we can't be too closed minded about that.