The Importance of Correct Grammar

No one would argue that the Internet is the most important technological advancement in the last fifty years, if not in the whole of human history. We truly are on the verge of a new age of information and global connectedness. But the Internet has its problems as well. One of the biggest problems that I have found with the Internet is that it has brought about the death of correct grammar.

Correct grammar is dying both through the Internet and, perhaps even worse, through the proliferation of text messages and online chats. The casualness and space-saving culture of online and cellular communication has claimed correct grammar and spelling as its first victim. No longer is the word "you" used. Complete sentences have been completely banished. Correct grammar is no longer deemed important.

But is correct grammar even that important? The usage of correct grammar was always simply intended to codify and unite a language under one heading, one simple (or, as in the case of the English language, quite complicated) frameworks of rules and guidelines. Correct grammar served as a standardization. With correct grammar, we insure that we can understand each other. Consider the following sentence: The dog ran down the street to see a bird. Without correct grammar, one could write the sentence as: a bird to see down the street the dog ran. Or worse: a bird dog to see the down street ran the. Correct grammar is necessary to make sense and to communicate your thoughts clearly.

So what is the future of correct grammar? It's difficult to say. Obviously, as more and more people become attuned to the "text grammar", it will seep into everyday usage more and more. Already, people routinely use what were once obscure Internet acronyms regularly without thinking. I once heard someone tell a joke, but no one laughed; they simply said "LOL". Gross.

Proponents of this shortened word culture say that languages are constantly evolving. What is correct grammar now wasn't correct grammar 500 years ago. This is true, but correct grammar has always changed at a relatively slow rate. This slow rate meant that the old correct grammar could still influence the new correct grammar. It also meant that their was plenty of archiving. But this Internet grammar is escalating so quickly, it's becoming its own language.

Finally, there is nothing more unprofessional than to ignore correct grammar. While you might still get away with "LOL" in the company of friends, you cannot use it with the friends in your company, or your bosses. Perhaps someday the influence of the Internet-speak will be accepted as correct grammar, but until then, it's best to not use it at all.