I understand the difference between formal and informal writing, and I don't generally get in people's faces about spelling and/or grammar errors unless I feel like it might help save them future embarrassment in a more important setting. That said, I don't understand the indignation with which people respond to the idea that they might take a little more care with how they express themselves -- in any medium. Somehow, when I try to help educate people, I become the bad guy. This is ridiculous to me, but moreover it is patently unfortunate for everyone.
Even the most minor incremental effort at proofreading will improve the image you project to the world immensely. Even if you don't care what other people think, you yourself should take pride in this image for the same reasons you'd take pride in anything else you do. Ten years ago, people did take a certain amount of pride in writing well online. If you think the environment online today is elitist, believe me when I tell you that you wouldn't have even wanted to have been wired during the early nineties. That elitism is now largely gone in most circles, believe it or not, which is good for everyone. The pride that went away with it, sadly, I miss a great deal. I like to think there's a happy middle ground somewhere between being an outwardly obnoxious language snob and not caring at all.
Being online and expressing yourself frequently with the written word is a tremendous opportunity to constantly improve your writing skills. No matter who you are, what you do for a living, or how well you already write, eventually you will run into a situation that makes you wish you could write better. It doesn't seem important now, but it will seem important then. In real life, your opinions simply carry more weight when you articulate them clearly and correctly -- especially in writing. Spell checkers are only part of the solution. They are nice, but insufficient. Indeed, I generally refuse to use them at all on the grounds that I am better at it than they are. Over-reliance on spell checkers is the biggest reason you see more mistakes in the newspaper, in magazines, and even on billboards or TV ads.
If you want to tell me that people just don't care about this stuff, I am forced to concede that you are right. I've seen it myself. I take issue, however, with the notion that people
shouldn't care, or that the idea that people should care is somehow insulting to people who don't. Rabies's "help apostrophe" is over the top, yes (it draws heavily from a Bob the Angry Flower cartoon which can be found
here). The idea behind it (and the comic), though, is that people should care, and the only way to make them care is to shame them into it. On some days, I have a hard time disagreeing.
(Please note that I am not calling out Stars specifically here, but an entire mindset I encounter all the time. This is not meant for anyone to take personally. Consider it food for thought.)
This is much like the issue with ancient high-level morts (you know who you are), in a way. I can explain, beg, plead, cajole, bribe, re-explain, prod, whine, blather, joke, draw analogies, make metaphors, lead, scream, swear, sigh, try explaining one last time, or even hold my breath until I turn blue. Some people will never understand what I'm talking about. Others will simply refuse to understand. This is the last I'll say publicly about either issue...for a while, at least.