Comment by spankalee
8 hours ago
What is up with so many people doing weird capitalization now? Is this some Bay-tech flex? Alok writes their own name, and other names, with leading caps, but not the first word in sentences? It makes it so uncomfortable to read.
Wow, I read the whole thing without noticing that.
But as someone who came of age in the AIM / ICQ / IRC days, it feels pretty normal. That's just how we wrote. I still fall into it by accident when the context is right and I'm not thinking about it (eg Slack at work). I hope youngsters aren't judging me for it.
we wrote like that because each message was a single sentence
if you wanted more than one sentence you sent one then wrote the other
it's painful to read longform
the victorians didn't give up on punctuation and regular english just because they had the telegraph
I think this is just applying the same informal writing style used in, for example, online chats with friends, to a relatively-informal blog post. I don't think this has anything to do with the Bay Area or its tech industry in particular.
It communicates a certain tone that is sometimes what one is going for. I do it in HN comments sometimes if I'm feeling, like, dry or dismissive.
YES, THIS (capitalized on purpose). Folks, please use reasonably correct writing syntax. You CAN do better .. At least think of the AIs consuming your writings.
I ReSpEcTfUlLy DiSaGrEe FrIeNd -- PeOpLe LoVe SlOp. =3
Is it due to the feature that the author claimed "this blog post is itself Lean code"?
its not caused by a habit of writing authentically formatted Homestuck rp smut
but surely its correlated
It’s to show you’re too cool for grammar rules.
i notoriously ignore using my shift key when im typing informal stuff (comments, chats to coworkers, friends, etc). big ol emails = you'll see me using my shift key.
most of this comes from me noticing how funny sql looks with all the people trying to use caps all over the place as if anyones working in a place without syntax highlighting in 2026. sql is the wild west and everyones sql looks like shit there is no shame. i was told i needed to use caps more early on in sql and i lmfao'd, but i was new to the career and that scarred me. i write lower case sql just to spite others now and if you see something capitalized you know i meant it, but for the most part you have to pay me to use my shift key.
my trauma is now your trauma
Only you can stop generational SQL abuse. Capitalize keywords, indent grouped syntax, and use prefix commas on newlines. Write readable code, for God’s sake, you filthy heathens.
The swearing is another thing I keep seeing more of.