hi. it's me. i hate capitals.
Perhaps it is just as well that you were not born German.
Now, that is a language that loves capital letters.
i really, really, do, but i will use them if i really need to (and i am 50 years old - i understand when i need to).
Personally, I dislike - actually, deeply dislike - sentences without proper punctuation.
They strike me as careless and casual, casual of language and perhaps, casual re the recipient.
More to the point, I will take a message written thus a lot less seriously (and treat it a lot less urgently) than I will a message that has been composed and written correctly. If someone chooses not to write (to me) properly, then, I can (and will) choose not to take their written remarks seriously. If they prefer not to respect language (above all, when this is a deliberate choice, which is not the case with someone who suffers from, for example, dyslexia) then, I choose not to respect what they have written, and not take it terribly seriously.
Is this judgmental? Yes, but it is a judgment that I am entitled to make. If someone writes sloppy, casual and deliberately careless sentences, I reserve the right to draw my own conclusions.
And, had they foolishly done so in a term essay or paper submitted for a course I taught, in the days when I graced the groves of academe, they would have read my copious and far from complimentary remarks in the margins and at the end of the essay.
Do I make exceptions? Of course, yes, close friends and family are excused (with rolled eyes) - but, as it happens, close friends and family (most of whom are voracious readers, and thus, appreciative of, and respectful of, the written word) actually tend to write proper (grammatically correct) emails and texts.
i am a casual person, and feel that using lower case makes things way less formal.
Perhaps your recipient is not a casual person.
And, unless it is someone who is a close friend or a family member - why on Earth would you wish to make things "less formal"?
This presupposes a familiarity for which there is no evidence - or may not be any evidence - in the relationship in question; personally, I dislike the assumption of familiarity - or assumed informality - unless the context allows for it, and yes, unless I have consented to this - inferred or otherwise.
I'm not casual or informal, and people who assume informality - without the context of the specific relationship allowing for it, through evolution, or personal preference, if it is not already presupposed by context (friends, family), close professional ties (friends you develop through common professional experiences and interests), people you become close to through mutual interests, and so on, and other forms of consent - are, in my experience, sometimes people who have issues with accepting the boundaries (formal and informal) set by others.
Now, perhaps this is a cultural (as in, UK vs US) difference - I don't know and cannot say; and, it may also be a matter of temperament - for I am reserved and fairly introverted by nature.
However, I do deeply dislike the automatic assumption of informality and casual familiarity on the part of someone else, that someone can arrogate to themselves an assumption on the nature of a relationship, (which may neither be shared nor reciprocal) and for them to act accordingly seems to me to be quite presumptuous.
however, i am a diehard user of punctuation (except sometimes i leave off a . at the end of a text to my kids or an ig group chat). long live the oxford comma.
Agree re the Oxford comma.
frankly, i think speaking in passive agressive tones about someone when you could be candid be shows direct disrespect for the intended recipient(s). particularly when an expressed opinion is already offered. are some people just afraid of being forthright? why?
Disrespect can be expressed in many different ways; I tend to have limited (indeed, little) respect for messages I receive which are - to my eye - poorly written.
Yes, as a former academic, I will make excuses for - allow for - a lack of education, limited literacy, or problems - such as dyslexia - but, am rather unforgiving when such actions are a result of a deliberate action, or choice.
One (or anyone) may choose to write in such a manner, but the manner of writing will influence my response.