Is spelling important anymore? How about grammar?

In answer to the header of this question: Yes, and yes, though not as much as spelling.

In answer to the body of your question:

I perceive them as not knowing how to spell a certain word unless there is evidence to the contrary. Meaning, of course, that even though the person does not know how to spell "foreign", for instance, it is POSSIBLE that they know how to spell a word that I do not. Therefore, I can hardly draw any solid conclusions about that person. He or she is on the other side of a screen. The person in question could be whip-smart and be trying to deceive me for some reason. Or it could be a typographical error. Therefore, any perception I can POSSIBLY make is mere speculation, nothing more.

No, it is not a factor in how I reply. I USUALLY reply lazily myself. I don't always capitalize when I should. I use smiley faces ( :) ), but of course that is only because it looks better than typing the word "smile" between two asterisks. Also, a Yahoo! text field is not a MS Word document. You cannot italicize, which is why I have to use all capital letters to EMPHASIZE certain words. :) Certain "shortcuts" are, unfortunately, necessary to effectively communicate within the confines of the program used to post ones' question or answer. That's just how it is. And when I reply, I don't double check my grammar, and I only edit my reply if I don't think it will be understood well by the person on the other end of the computer. Also, if I have reason to believe that the person posting a question does not speak English as his or her first language, I will PURPOSELY alter my grammar/syntax as I type my response, in a way that I feel will make it EASIER for the person in question to understand. This way, I am, at least, communicating as EFFECTIVELY as I can to someone who may not have been properly educated in speaking/writing English.

Yes, I M concerned @ IM'ing and other "shortcuts" affecting young minds (but, IMO, the user of the program, in this case, Yahoo! Answers, must know some of these shortcuts going in, or else they R going 2 B lost when trying to decipher what another user is saying). But there is nothing we can do @ it. 2 Prevent it, we could have added to our governments curriculum b4 it Bcame popular, but now, IMO it's 2 late. The kids can't be untaught something like that, don't you think?

However, I don't think shortcuts make the kids lazy. I think lazy kids make shortcuts.

Sorry, I got kinda long winded there. Hope you enjoy reviewing my answer.

Yes, they are important. Given that the point of communication is to transfer ideas and thoughts, bad spelling and grammar detract from that.

Instant messaging is probably hurting spelling and grammar. The problem is more prevalent on SMS text messaging, where some would say that it is arguably neccessary to use extreme contractions and deliberate mis-spellings in order to get a useful amount of information across in one text. I say that is rubbish because the correct solution is to condense meaning rather than to mangle words.

Worse still is when people ask questions on Yahoo! Answers and don't supply enough information for you to answer (not true of this question). I wonder what is the point ? I think that if a person can't be bothered to frame a question correctly and supply enough information for me to give a useful answer, then the asker probably isn't really bothered about reading the answer properly either. This is usually true.

Well language is constantly, albeit slowly, changing. In some reguards, streamlining our spelling would be a good thing, but the IM/Chat/Texting style is way to terse to be useful outside of those situations.

I'm not overly concerned about their usage except when use it in more formal situations like posting or answering questions.

Oh, and yes grammar and spelling are still important.

Yes, it absolutely drives me crazy when people on here use incorrect grammar and spelling. Sometimes I can't even understand the question because of this. I mean they put a spell checker on here for a reason, right?

Spelling is really important. Clear language shows clear concepts. Good grammar is also vital, it shows your ideas have cohesion. You can easily perceive a person´s grammar or spelling. An American President said once:" Is our children learning?" And he also said:"I won´t accept their tenants"(talking about terrorists) I guess that´s more than enough

Well I do dislike it when a post is unintelligible but dislike worse spelling Nazi's who answer a post with,"You misspelled a word blah blah..."

To an quantity I consider you. As a long way as typing is going, yeah it is less complicated to shorten the whole lot. Especially in texting. And I on the whole uncover myself making spelling mistakes while I form when you consider that I have a tendency to form too rapid often. It's now not out of lack of expertise. The use of grammar whilst talking is wherein I believe we have now a challenge. However, it cannot be blamed at the faculties. My husband has very dangerous grammar, however it is what he is discovered from his dad and mom. I desire to force pencils via my ears while I listen him, or his dad and mom, say axed rather of requested, warsh rather of wash. The giant one regardless that, is they will say supposably rather of supposedly...it drives me nuts!!! I recognize I'm missing moderately in grammar, however come on!!

Yes.

i noticed when my children went to school ,they just don't teach or care about it any more,we had spellers,had to write out the words,then in sentences,then a test.