In Defence of Grammar Nazis Everywhere

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who types like they're a monkey bashing its head against the keyboard?

I feel like the monkey is probably better at both
typing and spelling.

"but i liek to typ3 li3k dis" is often a defence for such crimes against language, or "its shorter 2 not type it all out and ur super dumb 4 not doin this 2" is an alternative. Why? For the first one, why would you want to look like a drunk ape learning how to use a complex piece of equipment? I honestly don't see the allure in looking like a complete moron in a setting where everyone across the globe could conceivably see your act of idiocy. For the second one... well, you're using a full keyboard. Can you honestly not spare the extra half-second it takes to type "to" or "too" instead of using the digit? If you're really that busy, should you honestly be wasting your precious, precious time on an internet forum or the comments section of whatever it is you're browsing? Quickly, get off your computer and get back to your life-changing work.

Seriously, these monkeys know what
they're doing.

Surely, if you are a lover of languages like myself, or at least a human being of moderate intelligence, you've wanted to, at some point, correct at least one egregious error in your time on the internet. Perhaps you've restrained yourself for fear of being labelled a "Grammar Nazi" for the whole internet to see.

My question is, why be afraid? Why fear being known for proper use of your language? Since the internet really started to soar in popularity, the quality of grammar everywhere has been deteriorating. It's gotten to the point where people, grown, adult people, have no idea how to use simple words like "your" and "you're" properly, and are simply confounded by the idea of "there", "they're", and "their" being different things with different meanings. Please, don't even get me starting on using "then" rather than "than" to make comparisons. This is simple grammar people should have picked up in grade school when they were learning how to read and write. No amount of wifi should ever change the fact that this is important linguistic knowledge.

Yes languages change an mutate over the years. Otherwise, we'd still be going around asking "what light through yonder window breaks" or "how art thee this fine morrow?" However, languages should not mutate to the point where words lose their meanings, or become so confused with similar words that no one knows how to spell or use them correctly without several visits to a dictionary. My point here is, use a darned dictionary, learn what words mean and how to use them, and I'll stay off your back. Until you do that, I will continue to be one of the last crusaders for linguistic purity.

Cheers.