You had me at the proper use of "You're"

You know what's newsworthy right now? Spelling. So that's what I want to discuss today. (Grammar and punctuation, too!)

Let me explain why I'm passionate about this issue.

Some people can paint or sculpt or design beautiful things. Many people make music in some way, shape, or form. Other people are natural athletes.

I am a gifted speller.

Growing up, I excelled at reading and writing. (Math and science are hard, amirite?) By middle school, I'd declared that English was my favorite subject, and that never changed. My freshman year of high school, I took my first journalism class, and my writing style evolved. I basically ditched everything I knew about creative writing and 3.5 essays (anyone remember those?) and never looked back. I learned how to be concise. I learned how to tell stories. Most significantly, I learned how to proofread.

Thirteen years later, I've got a Master's degree in Communication, and we all have to deal with social media and a 24-hour news cycle and information overload in general.

WE HAVE SPELL CHECK EVERYWHERE NOW, and still it seems like nobody can spell.

This is a flawless example of a "which came first?" causality dilemma. Maybe we've always been mostly atrocious at spelling and grammar, but it's painfully obvious now because we communicate through typed text so frequently. Or maybe as technology advances, we rely too much on spell check. I don't know.

Here's why I think you should care:

• Being a good communicator is important in your personal life. Do your due diligence so that your loved ones don't have to expel energy translating what you're trying to say.
• Being a good communicator is important in your professional life. For example, as a hiring manager, I notice typos/errors on resumes and cover letters. I also judge a candidate's ability to communicate effectively based on brief email communication and a quick scan of his/her social media profile(s).
• Your children are basically creepy little versions of you. Studies show that if you read, they'll read. If you exercise, they'll exercise. So I don't think it's a stretch to assume that if you don't care about spelling, they won't care either.
• Spell check sucks. (As does auto correct.)
• People who take the time to care about spelling and grammar will tirelessly poke fun at you and your errors behind your back.

Let's make proofreading cool again.

Related: How well can you spell? from WaPo