text: why is it rude to type in all caps? i tried to type a question in all caps and the page refreshed said do not use all caps i's rude typing in all caps is the online equivalent to yelling, and therefore bad manners. all caps are also harder to read. here's why...  once we have mastered reading (not sounding out words letter by letter), we recognize words by their shape rather than by the order of the letters. think about it...you read whole words, not individual letters. when words are typed in all caps, they lose their shape -- that is, they become rectangular. the reader has to revert to reading them one letter at a time, hence slowing them down.  graphics designers use this as a tool to draw attention by slowing down a reader. it is an effective tool when used properly.