Style Guides, Schmyle Guides?
A new book called "Language and the Internet sounds pretty interesting. Pooh-Poohing the Purists, a Scholar Revels in Netspeak from the New York Times says the author thinks a lack of conformity to guidelines is okay. I don't know anyone who, in college or elsewhere, really ever wrote reports or papers that strictly conformed to any style guides -- unless we're talking about English 101.

His point is that Internet writers and communicators modify their style for the medium, urgency, immediacy, synchronicity and audience. Wow! What a discovery -- I guess the days of leaving Mom notes on the table in APA style doesn't translate to todays hurried world of email.

Okay, even so, it could be an interesting book for anyone who has to write for online medium. Just a good survey of styles with some analysis could be very useful for helping us select a style in the future.