This is a response/opinion to the numerous posts in the "nurses vs doctors" thread pertaining to "spelling and grammar".
Does it matter?
From my personal standpoint I DO believe that spelling and grammar are important when posting.
When we argue/discuss/lecture etc in normal day to day life we have a luxury, the luxury of the non-verbal. You can sense emotion, poise, commitment and strength (or all the opposites) from a person when they are sitting right beside you. When you read an article that you find convincing or moving you often base it on how well it is written and how supported its arguments are.
When it comes to online forums/discussions I believe there is only one thing we have to confirm or deny our commitment, emotions, poise and strength over a non-verbal medium. That is our writing.
When people come to the forums with posts that are full of misspells/slangs/wall o' text and numerous grammatical errors, personally I will say I have a harder time taking anything they say seriously. That is just me.
I peruse several forum sites from nursing to video gaming, and across them all the rules are the same. Those who are eloquent are generally more responded to and respected. Even down to the 15 year olds playing World of Warcraft. Look back at the posters here and you will see many who take a few extra moments for paragraphs, spell checks and some of those who even document sources for their information and you will see they get a lot of positive feedback, even when their ideas go against the popular consensus.
Now is it fair to openly bash someone's ideas because they are poorly written? Not necessarily, but it is fair to assume (especially here where there are many,many well educated professionals) they are trolls, with no particular intent than to stir up drama.
There is also an exception for posters who do not have English as a primary language, and for that we can afford some leniency.
Just some thoughts from the Taitter mind this sunny Saturday afternoon.
