Writing in All Caps Is Like Shouting

Whether composing an email, a text, or an instant message, it's usually best to use sentence capitalization, which means don't use all caps. Why? Because when you write in all capital letters, recipients interpret it as the equivalent of shouting.

Types of Cases

Here are descriptions of the different capital cases:

• All caps: THIS IS A SENTENCE WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS.
• Mixed case or sentence case: This is a mixed case sentence with only the first word and proper nouns such as John Smith capitalized.
• Title case: The First Letter of Most Words Is Capitalized in Title Case.
• Lowercase: this sentence is written all in lowercase letters.
• Randomly mixed capitalization: RandOmLy MixeD mEaNs you wRitE UsiNg capiTal LeTTeRs aT RanDom.
• CamelCase: This case doesn't usually apply to sentences but rather to brand names with a capital letter in the middle, such as FedEx or WordPerfect. Use with a brand is acceptable, but that's about the only time you should capitalize letters in this way.

When to Write in All Caps

Though it's generally considered rude to use all caps, there are times when it's appropriate, just as it's sometimes appropriate to raise your voice when speaking. Such situations include when you're genuinely upset and feel the need to express yourself freely, or when you want to call attention to certain words or phrases.