Increased technology usage and etiquette...or something like that!

The English language is a marvellous thing. We can use it to convey all types of emotions and to portray complex scenes or situations.
The old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" (Wiki here) is true in many cases, but it doesn't allude to the fact that those thousand words can provide an in-depth insight into the opinion(s) of the author, or that the words themselves could be viewed as a beautiful work of art.
Like all works of art (literary or otherwise) they are open to interpretation. This interpretation is incredibly important. To one person it may seem beautiful and thought provoking, to another it may appear disgusting and insulting.
Therefore, how something is written (in terms of composition: language used, punctuation, grammar etc.) is very important. A carefully crafted piece of work can be enjoyed by many people, a poorly crafted one can often provoke an unwanted response.

Unfortunately, the increase in the use of technology (mobile phone SMS, email, social networks etc.) has meant that people often revert to 'lazy' writing, abbreviating words, phonetical spelling and also writing as it would be spoken.

This last 'issue' is one that is often overlooked, but it's one that can cause so many problems. Without 'real-life' interaction, including facial expressions or being present and able to 'read' the other person's response, sentences can often be mis-interpreted. The use of, or sometimes lack of, punctuation can also make things worse (e.g. the increased use of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!) which can further compound the issue. The author will often not realise they are doing it. Because it is their words, they already have their interpretation, but will only see it from their own point of view.

The issue of anonymity also makes things worse. People writing on Internet forums (or even blogs) sometimes feel they can write whatever they like providing no-one knows who they are, regardless of who they may offend in doing so.

So with all of this in mind, are we losing our social etiquette?
Perhaps more importantly, does anyone actually care? Or providing it's in the 'virtual' world does it matter at all?
Should I stop bothering about it and not ask anymore questions?

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Perhaps I should stick to writing about technology and stop concerning myself with the human condition.