> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • Student-Success Resource Center
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
Profhacker Logo

ProfHacker

Teaching, tech, and productivity.

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

ALL CAPS: IS IT EVER OKAY TO USE THEM???

By  Mark Sample
January 31, 2011
A Man Shouting

Last spring Ethan wrote about an electronic communication policy he hoped to develop for his classes, in order to ward off overly informal and often unnecessary emails from students. Today I want to address a far more specific and---dare I say---menacing trend I’ve seen in email: ALL CAPS.

We're sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network.

Please allow access to our site, and then refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, please contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

A Man Shouting

Last spring Ethan wrote about an electronic communication policy he hoped to develop for his classes, in order to ward off overly informal and often unnecessary emails from students. Today I want to address a far more specific and---dare I say---menacing trend I’ve seen in email: ALL CAPS.

Sometimes it may be just a word or two. Other times, it might be whole lines of text. In either case, the effect is as if the sender were SHOUTING at you.

Even text that is bold, italicized, and underlined all at once doesn’t begin to approach the in-your-face chutzpah of all caps. Even HTML’s infamous blink tag, which evokes the textual equivalent of a shrieking child, does not convey the same sense of frivolous urgency as all caps.

So my question is this: Is it ever okay to use all caps in email or other online communication?

ADVERTISEMENT

If you are the National Weather Service, it’s perfectly acceptable to send out a message saying:

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST
TONIGHT.

Likewise, the many fake Hulks on Twitter get a pass for shouting in all caps.

But what if you’re not the national government or a comic book character? The chances are, then, that all caps are not for you. At least not in any professional context. Or, if you’re a student, not in any email you’d want to send to your professor. All caps require, ironically enough, a light touch, an awareness of exactly how much like SHOUTING they really are. And because electronic communication seems to amplify the slightest ripples in tone, that light touch is incredibly hard to pull off.

But what do you think? Is it ever okay to use all caps? LET US KNOW!!!!

[A Tribute to Everything I Hate photograph courtesy of Flickr user Sebastian Fritzon / Creative Commons License]

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Accessibility Statement
    Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin