Apparently, I've been sheltered from typical teens on the Internet

[Relambrien]

The following may sound like a rant, but it's more of an "O_O" moment of sheer surprise.

So, the places on the Internet I usually visit tend to be civil, more or less. People also tend to type relatively coherently, and anything even remotely resembling chatspeak is highly frowned upon. Basically, all the forums I go to are similar to FFR in average post quality.

Now, considering the numbers of teens on these sites, I figured that the whole "teens and chatspeak" thing was over exaggerated. At least, that was until my friends at school finally convinced me to get a MySpace. I don't even really do anything with it; I leave it open and refresh to see if anything happened whenever I'm waiting on a page to load.

But HOLY CRAP, I never had any idea my friends could be the way they are online. Here's an excerpt from one message conversation I had:

Originally Posted by MySpace convo

Friend: can somebody tell me how i get videos on there there on my purchase on mycomputer and i know its a video ipod becase i can do podcast with no problem. but im having a hrd time putting videos. its the new ipod but your help is needed

Me: I might be able to help. These videos, did you buy them from iTunes? Or, more specifically, do you know they're the right file format?

If they are in the right file format, then here's what you do. Go into iTunes, go to File > Add file to library. Find the video and double-click it; this adds it to your iTunes library. In the bar on the left side of the screen, under the "Library" heading, click on "Movies." Then click and hold on the movie you just added, and drag it onto your iPod, also on the bar to the left. That should do it.

In a step-by-step format, it would go like this.

1) Ensure video is in the proper format.
2) Open iTunes.
3) File > Add file to library.
4) Navigate to movie.
5) Double-click.
6) Go to the Videos section under the "Library" heading in iTunes.
7) Click and drag the video to the iPod.

Which step are you having trouble with?

Friend: im going have to check on that 2morow becasue im on my laptop but ill get back to u 2morow about it. the problem is i cant get it on my ipod

I have to read over everyone's messages at least twice to understand what they're saying, people seem to have no reasoning ability whatsoever, and this is consistent across every single person I know. No wonder people make so many grammar errors in typed assignments; they don't even attempt to use remotely correct English while on a computer.

I was truly bewildered that every single person was like this. Further, most people when posting comments or bulletins say little one-line things like "lol new pic pc4pc," whereas even my one-sentence comments take up like three lines. And I usually write a couple sentences...

Have I really been that sheltered? Is there any hope for humanity?

Also, share your situations where you wanted to strangle someone you knew for using chatspeak, or for doing something you never thought they'd do.

EDIT: Thought of something else. Has anyone ever experienced any situations in which someone acts so much more idiotic online than they do in life? Take for instance my example. The guy says "I can't get videos on my iPod," I ask him what part he's having trouble with, and he says, "the problem is that I can't get videos on my iPod." I mean...what the heck?