Valley PR Blog

Should spelling matter in soshul media?

By Linda VandeVrede on April 28th, 2008 In Social Media

I’ve backed off the ledge on this issue, after talking to Dave Barnhart. He runs Business Blogging Pros, and wrote awhile back that posts should be authentic, complete with typos, spelling mistakes, and grammar gaffes. You can read his thoughts here. He also emphasized this point at a recent publishing seminar when he encouraged attendees to blog about their books. If you take pains to perfect your blog, he told me, it’s no longer authentic, and comes across as “corporate speak.” The important thing is to get the content out there. Bloggers should write from the heart - anything else wouldn’t be authentic.

What do you think? Should PR and communication blogs obey different rules? When I see a mistake in a blog, it leaps out at me, and I have trouble getting past it. My opinion of the blogger immediately goes down a peg. Yes, I’m a spelling and grammar snob. After reviewing Craig’s List and some other social vehicles, I’m convinced that spelling is a lost art. Since when is a church pew a peue?

I agree that we need to be authentic. Blogs aren’t brochures. They are conversations. Important ideas should be conveyed and shared without the fear of filtering or editing holding them back. There are some famous PR bloggers, however, who should have learned how to spell by now. So what do you think? Should they be held to a different standard? Do spelling errors bother you when you read a post, or are you able to focus on the content? Is public relations all about relationships, or it it part image as well? Are readers like me too focused on appearances? Do I have any typos in this blog? And, should I dye my hair blonde?

Comments

Do your spelling and grammar mistakes get your point across or do they muddy your message? I think it depends on the writer, the blog and the audience. If you’re a person who is a “spelling and grammar snob” then you’ll pay attention to that kind of thing. A comma out of place can change the tone of a sentence. A couple of transposed letters or an omitted letter can change from to form or public to something ENTIRELY different. If you’re blogging to reach other professionals in your industry and their standards are completely correct language, grammar, syntax and spelling, by all means, take the time to make it right. If you’re blogging about the great music you heard over the weekend, that’s a different story.

Not to grab a bigger reference than neccesary…but Foucault’s premise about evaluating a “source” to place a value on their story is valid here.

What I mean is that personally, I find a lack of spelling skills to be an indicator of a lack of education and care. That shades the “news” you give me and how I prioritize it.

If, in this age of spellcheck, you can’t be bothered to hit a button, much less learn the language we speak and write, then frankly, it shows me you don’t take the news you have to give that seriously, either.

Spelling and grammar are absolutes, like facts.

Since when is attention to detail inauthentic? It’s one thing to encourage free-flowing, creative expression; it’s another to champion mediocrity and carelessness. By all means, be bohemian and genuinely spontaneous. But check yourself in the mirror before you head out into the spotlight.

I consciously tend the details in even the most casual correspondence because I care about what I’m saying and sharing. It’s a sign of respect for the recipient as well as for my own thoughts and effort.

On the other hand, I imagine the one reasonable concern here is the situation in which a blogger edits a post to change its meaning or facts. If the facts are wrong or the inflection misleading, then a comment could clear that up while leaving the authenticity of the original post intact. In the same context, the blogger could easily post a comment to correct minor typos - which are inevitable products of our fast-paced, distraction-ladden minds.

Either way, I’m turned on by writing that says what it came to say without tripping my focus on goofs, gaffs or gimmicks. So I’m all for paying attention and taking care.

Cheers!

Amanda, I couldn’t agree with you more.

Linda, to address your most important question — “should I dye my hair blonde?” – here’s my confession.

This life-long brunette took the plunge about six months ago after a hairdresser insisted that being a blonde would better hide the grays. However, my teen-age son’s immediate reaction to the new color was “is that permanent?” and the statement “now you look like a blonde with some gray.” Despite this positive review, I stuck with the blonde until recently.

PR lesson here: if you want to test out a new brand, pitch it to a teen-age boy first, if you dare.

Years of teaching college English and writing PR shit have taught me to proofread, but I never proofread my blog. If it has a typo, I look at it after I post and edit it later. I do try to get it up there BEFORE I look at it. But I can’t let those typos stand — they drive me crazy.

Interesting perspective, Suzanne. I’ve always said that blogging is like dyeing your hair - once you commit to it, you have to stick to it - no looking back.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who prefers posts that are relatively mistake-free.

I’m thinking of dyeing my hair blonde…or is it blond? At least I won’t be using up much in the way of precious natural dye resources that are desperately needed by the ladies at Barcelonas.

Just say ‘no’ to bad spelling and chain letters.

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