And this is excusable why?

Because not everyone on this BBS is as educated or naturally intelligent as everyone else on the BBS,

Ah, now this puts me in mind of an argument for good grammar. I think this applies to the internet in general...

Here on the BBS, our words are the only thing that others see about "us", about who we are. They don't see our demeanor, they don't hear our voices, they can't see what we're really like. All they see is the words.

So, when someone writes with poor grammar, it gives us a "first impression" of lack-of-education and/or lack-of-intelligence. Even though neither of those things is necessarily related to grammar. There was one BBS user who simply typed very fast and didn't bother to correct typos. Then I got a chance to meet him in person, and he was very intelligent and well educated.

It's even harder for people with English as a second language. When reading messages from a non-english speaker, I have to deliberately try to overcome that "first impression". It has to be a conscious effort, or I slip into judging them on their command of the English language.

Technology has allowed us to connect to people across great distances. Now we need to learn how it colors our perceptions of others...