Saturday, November 19, 2011

How does lack of spellchecking affect potential answerers?

I see this happening a lot, and I am curious how it impacts the willingness of others to answer. This is not a troll question, I really am curious how this is percieved by the answering community. From my perspective it would seem to reduce the quality of answers given. So, to test this hypothesis,





If someone posts like typing out a text message, and someone else asks the same question in grammatically correct English:


1) Would you answer one, the other, both, or neither?


2) If both, would the format of the questions impact your reply, or would you simply copy and paste answers from one to the other?





Thank you for your insights!





(NOTE: this survey has NOT been cleared by any IRB, nor it is meant to be scientific)

How does lack of spellchecking affect potential answerers?
I take questions that are well worded and that have proper spelling and punctuation much more seriously.





A frustration I currently have with Answers! is that the spell check never seems to work for me when I write long answers. I really wish they would fix that!





Interesting question...I'll be interested to keep up with what people answer.





Thanks and good luck!
Reply:People can think that your'e an idiot.
Reply:You have the spell checker box to the top left above the answer box so the people with ADD or dyslexia don't have to be intimidated and can function satisfactorily in their communication here. As long as I could roughly understand the question I would answer it even with grammatical errors. Sometimes people just type too fast and are careless. Sometimes I will gently correct the person's syntax or spelling. I have to read back over what I have answered too because sometimes I will slip with the fingers or use the wrong tense or punctuation in my answer. By the way, I think the correct spelling is perceived in your question.


I am not one to copy and paste so I would answer both questions maybe with a little different wording in each.
Reply:Hi. Some questions appear to be written by someone whose first language is not English. These folks deserve a respectful, though out answer as much as anyone. I always check for how long the questioner has been in Y!A. If this is their first question AND they joined today AND the question is dumb, I don't even go for the points. My answers are not dumbed down for writing style.
Reply:1) Both - same 2 points either way


2) No effect on the answer.
Reply:What can I say? I just posted a question, and noticed that I left off a letter. I felt a little stupid, but I'm over it now.
Reply:Definitely. If they're too lazy to check their spelling and grammar, why should I bother to read the question?


1) I'd answer the one that was done in correct English


2) N/A
Reply:As long as I can read the answer and find it INTERESTING to the Subject, I will vote for it! As for spelling, its just not that important if the answer is relevant.
Reply:Stupid questions deserve stupid answers...
Reply:Maybe you should not portrait yourself as such a polished


shoeshiner. Sometimes of the cuff remarks, are amusing and enjoyable, regardless of the correctness of their spelling.Especially when it comes down to the origin of their place of birth.If u no wat i mean.





Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Reply:1.) I'd answer the one that's grammatically correct.


2.) I always answer with the right tenses, etc. My spelling might be off on some long words, but I just prefer to write properly, with capital letters where they should be, etc.


Of course, I'm a writer and I read a lot, so my language and correctness is a big thing to me, mainly.
Reply:Many times I stop myself from answering a question that has bad grammar or many spelling errors because I am not sure that the person will be able to understand an articulate answer. The poor spelling really tends to make one think that the person asking the question is not particularly educated.
Reply:I know better than to hope for grammatically correct English at all times. Or for spell-checked text. But some questions are so poorly worded as to be unintelligible. And the spelling is so far out there are an endless number of possibilities to what the subject of the question is.


A good example is a young woman who said she had been seeing some eal and wanted to know about letting her ex-boyfriend know about it. I'm not sure if she was seeing a seal, and eel, or someone else. All three were interesting possibilities.


I don't cut and paste EVER and get very annoyed by those people who import material from somewhere, that goes on for screen after screen.





This response has NOT been cleared by any IRB and is not meant to be scientific.
Reply:Not stopping to check their spelling allows them to get their stupidity out that much faster.
Reply:I would essentially send the same message to both.


I might, however, make a snide remark about the misspellings to the shorthand or hip version - but only if it is intentionally misspelled (ie: wot for what, wuz for was, da for the, etc)
Reply:1. If someone asks what appears to be a serious question, I will try to give a sensible answer and ignore their atrocious spelling and grammar.





2. If someone asks a stupid question and, in addition, displays atrocious spelling and grammar, I will give a sarcastic answer. (Actually I like to give sarcastic answers to stupid questions even if they are spelled correctly, but that type of stupid question rarely appears.)





3. If someone tries to ask a question that is essentially incomprehensible, I report it as abuse.


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