To be honest I'm not overexcited about Mr Duncombe's anecdotal evidence. I'm not querying his statistics for the website he analysed, and I think he's probably right, but it's a long jump to extrapolate from a single website to the entire internet.
The most cogent argument in the article comes from Professor William Dutton, director of the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University (now that's what I call relevant credentials). Professor Dutton notes that there is a high tolerance for spelling mistakes in 'informal' parts of the internet but points out that online businesses, asking not for casual consequence-free friendship but for consumer confidence and financial interaction, are held to a different standard:
“... there are other aspects, such as a home page or commercial offering that are not among friends and which raise concerns over trust and credibility," said Professor Dutton.
"In these instances, when a consumer might be wary of spam or phishing efforts, a misspelt word could be a killer issue.”
"In these instances, when a consumer might be wary of spam or phishing efforts, a misspelt word could be a killer issue.”
I hope the mods will forgive me for pointing out that if anyone here isn't entirely confident in the standard of English on their website, and would like it checked over just to be on the safe side, they are welcome to contact me for a proof-reading quote.
