There’s More Bad Writing On The Internet And That’s A Good Thing

And That’s A Good Thing
Recently I met up with two old friends who are professional journalists. Both have been reporters for big city daily print newspapers. Both now work on the Internet, one as a freelancer and the other as an employee for an online publication.
Naturally the conversation turned to writing. Both of these professional writers bemoaned the bad writing on the Internet.
True. Read through any content database and you realize many articles do not show the quality of writing that would be demanded in a print newspaper or magazine. Read most websites. In fact, you can even read Amazon book reviews – including my reviews – and shudder.
I even get frustrated with my own writing. I am an excellent speller, which means I know how to spell most words. I know how to keep readers engaged. I know it’s dumb to use the same word twice in a piece of writing, let alone a paragraph. But I also know the Internet doesn’t make it easy to correct mistakes. By the time I notice a mistake in a review, I’ve gotten “helpful” votes that lead to rankings. By the time I fix a mistake in an article, it’s been distributed to half the universe.
But what happens? We write a lot these days. The Internet may have done away with the printed page but it has increased the need for writing. So I’d like to argue that the expansion of bad writing means that we are simply doing more at a faster pace.
What happens? There’s no time to go back and reflect on every piece of writing. It’s probably not worth the investment of energy and hours anyway. As a copywriter, I preach what I’ve been taught. People on the Internet do not read carefully. We skim and scan. So do I spend extra time making sure that each piece of writing is the best I can do…or do I go on to do more writing? I caught myself typing “here” for “hear” just the other day.
Of course, as a copywriter, I realize people get nervous when they see examples of my writing that are less than perfect. I do proofread and run spell-check, although I sometimes get carried away after I spell-check and go back to make a few last-minute changes. I admire the example of one well-known marketer who wrote brazenly, “For those who like to catch spelling errors, I’ve left a few for you to find.” I’m equally awed by those who offer rewards – usually small ebooks – to those who catch spelling and grammar errors in their online writing.