An entertaining article appeared last week over at the Grammarly blog, in which the comments section of political candidates’ Facebook pages were analyzed for grammar. Over the last five months, comments were compiled and sentences catalogued in an attempt to uncover which candidate has the most proficient writers as supporters.
This study is undoubtedly flawed, as it’s clear that more popular candidates will have more commenters, which offers more opportunities for mistakes. We must also wonder about different dialects and other variations on spelling and structure that may have been flagged but could be considered correct. And we must be careful in claiming those with bad grammar to be stupid. While in my profession I tend to notice a correlation between correct grammar and heightened intelligence, those two things do not automatically coexist.
The results show that apparently liberals seem to be better writers than conservatives, and Trump supporters are the worst writers of all. I’m not sure what any of this actually means, however, since I think the candidates themselves are usually the dumbest of all. All that being said, the results are interesting and worth a look. Enjoy!
This study is undoubtedly flawed, as it’s clear that more popular candidates will have more commenters, which offers more opportunities for mistakes. We must also wonder about different dialects and other variations on spelling and structure that may have been flagged but could be considered correct. And we must be careful in claiming those with bad grammar to be stupid. While in my profession I tend to notice a correlation between correct grammar and heightened intelligence, those two things do not automatically coexist.
The results show that apparently liberals seem to be better writers than conservatives, and Trump supporters are the worst writers of all. I’m not sure what any of this actually means, however, since I think the candidates themselves are usually the dumbest of all. All that being said, the results are interesting and worth a look. Enjoy!