All Caps Netiquette Tip:
The use of ALL CAPS is a common, easy way to help provide emphasis on certain words. Overusing all caps—typing complete sentences in all caps, for example—is typically a netiquette no-no though; perceived as the electronic equivalent of yelling.
Especially if you add an exclamation point at the end of the sentence:
TYPING EVERYTHING IN ALL CAPS IS THE ELECTRONIC EQUIVALENT OF YELLING.
TYPING EVERYTHING IN ALL CAPS IS THE ELECTRONIC EQUIVALENT OF YELLING!
Generally, all caps netiquette suggests to simply refrain from using them at all in your electronic communications. It’s recommended to use bold, italics, underlines, or even different color font formatting to provide emphasis.
However, as any busy executive knows, it’s a lot quicker to simply hit the caps-lock key than to use word processing and e-mail formatting tools. Avoiding all caps entirely seems a bit extreme in the reality of our fast-paced communications world.
Just be careful with your use of all caps, and remember that “between-the-line” nuances are often lost in electronic communications. While you may be merely intending the emphasis of a word or phrase, it may be perceived by your reader that you are yelling at them.
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