Welcome to Gaia! ::

After joining this guild, I was enthusiastic about putting the banner in my signature. "Great," I thought, "now my signature can state how I feel about 'txt tlk' and 'leet speak' so I don't have to keep pointing it out to people."

However, after doing so I have noticed that I'll still get people sending me PMs in 'leet speak' or with horrible grammar and spelling. Shouldn't it be obvious, after seeing the banner in my signature, that I disdain these things? Do they honestly expect a friendly response?

I really didn't write this post so much to complain as to find out if this happens to anyone else, as well as to get ideas on how to handle it. I would appreciate any advice on the matter.

I think some people are too lazy to write in proper English, even if there's a banner requesting them to. They just don't care *sigh* I don't know if there's anything we can do about it, laziness and selfishness can't be helped

Well, what I've come to conclude is that because of IMs, people think the Internet as a whole is a place for "l337 speak" and "txt tlk". I've made an RP or two (actually, about seven) where the rules clearly stated that LITERACY IS A MUST. I guess people either can't read because of their illiterate ways, or they just don't give a damn. >.<

Well, if they're illiterate, the literate banner of our guild is probably too complicated for them to understand stare

Thank you everyone for responding, especially for the people who had some advice. I guess my biggest problem with it isn't even so much that they will send the illiterate PM (although that does bother me) but that they either flame me for being stuck up by not answering, or when I do answer and ask them to be literate when they PM me, they send me 2 or 3 more that are just as illiterate telling me I should lighten up.

By the way, I apologize for my propensity towards Hemingway-ish run-on sentences.

I guess people are just ignorant lately...Or maybe they are doing that to infuriate you...A form of torture...Or maybe they are just too lazy to type out two or three more letter than they think they have to.

xd

When you think about it, you're probably a walking target with that thing there. It happens a lot when you're wearing something differently, as you're now the 'butt of the jokes'. Where I live, all schools have uniforms-- I don't think there's a school that doesn't have one. But when walking in town or walking past another school, you're easily recognised by your uniform. You always get chastised about something to do with your school, usually out of pure jealousy if your school happens to be better than the others.

I think this is similar to that. You're sort of putting up an unspoken challenge with it, and they're just trying to get under your skin, an act of ignorance.

I wouldn't get too upset about it if I was you, as it appears that's probably what they're trying to do.

I just put the banner in for fun...
and the only PMs I get are from other people who agree with my banner