I was typing out a tweet this morning on the good ole iphone.  I realize that when I tweet, I throw out all of the rules.  I only have 140 characters for each tweet so I throw out some rules – only one space instead of a double space after a period at the end of a sentence – we don’t spell out words completely or even correctly – no apostrophes.

I will sacrifice the rules for more characters.

The thing is though, I know the rules.  I love the ones that follow the rules even on Twitter.  Every now and then, I’ll follow the rules – even when I have more than 140 characters of thought to say.  It’s incredibly asinine for me to sacrifice the rules for the sake of getting it all into one tweet.

It’s definitely changing us.  We learn the shorthand and the acronyms.  Then we take it into formal writing and the professor reminds us of the value of an apostrophe.  The value of an apostrophe can be this sliding scale of trying to get a tweet in 140 characters or being perceived as dumb because you did not use it correctly.

I am amazed at the value of that one little mark.  It has the power of making you feel pretty good because you sacrificed it, and it can also make you look like a moron.

I’m trying to decide which side of this I want to land on.  Throw out the rules or be smart.  The educator in me says that I should stick to the rules.  I am not always grammatically perfect, but it can really determine how you are seen.  Your self-presentation can have an impact on your self-concept and/or self-worth.

What a nerd moment to realize that the value of an apostrophe can have an impact on who i see myself.  I’ll sacrifice a character on a tweet to set an example.  I’m worth an apostrophe.

Now let’s move on to commas.