One of my least favorite recurring themes in the blogosphere is whether or not blogs will overtake newspapers in terms of quality, accuracy, speed, etc. This comes up every few months, and the same people always have the same nonsense to say. Yes, in some ways blogs are definitely dominating. However, the one thing that blogs consistently lack is respect for the reader.

What does that mean?

Proofreading.

Every time I find a typo (mostly grammatical because of built-in spell check tools in operating systems, browsers, and blogging sites) I feel insulted. Really? You, the writer, do not have time to read through your post a second or *gasp* third time to ensure perfection? Sorry but that’s bullshit. I rarely see blog posts over a thousand words. It takes fifteen minutes to do a thorough grammar check on a piece that long. Do it.

I NEVER see typos in newspapers. As someone who legitimately has OCD (sorry but you don’t just because you have annoying habits), typos stand out like double popped collars. Here’s an example. Yesterday, Sarah Lacy talked about her most recent mob attack from Brazilians. In that post she used the word “burocracy.” She must have typed that post in Windows 95 because that word should have been immediately flagged as misspelled (and ludicrous).

This problem isn’t limited to small blogs either. TechCrunch, arguably one of the most influential blogs with millions of readers, constantly has typos. Fortunately, loyal readers quickly post a comment pointing out the typo giving the writer the opportunity to fix the problem. As a leader in the blogosphere, TechCrunch should be held to the highest standards.

What’s my point? Typos are unacceptable no matter how many readers you have. Take an extra few minutes and prevent yourself from appearing uneducated and lazy.

/rant