The AutoCorrect feature on our mobile devices is a double edged sword. It can save you from embarrassing typing errors on emails and texts. AutoCorrect can also easily ruin your life, turning a friendly note into something sinister, perverted or embarrassing.

By definition AutoCorrect is a software feature integrated into mobile operating systems like Android and iOS that corrects misspellings as you type. It is also supported by many modern desktop operating systems such as Mac and Windows.

Deactivating Autocorrect

Luckily, the android system can allow you to disable the Autocorrect or modify it, to take back control of your messaging. Unfortunately new concerns have risen about Autocorrect that cannot be addressed as easily with a simple settings configuration. People are starting to wonder whether the Autocorrect feature is improving or waning their writing and spelling skills.

We cannot refute the fact that The Autocorrect feature is used; in fact loved, by many writers because of its efficiency and time management capabilities. The writing industry is usually fast-paced with everyone trying to beat set deadlines. So the Autocorrect can come in handy to a writer by speeding up the process of writing .Some people also believe that the spell checker option on Autocorrect can act as a ‘teacher’ Helping people learns the spellings of words or punctuation on sentences, improving their writing and spelling skills.

Despite the benefits, it also has profound drawbacks which seem to outweigh the Pros.

“Is it just me or do you guys have the same problem with Autocorrect and Spell checkers, like they are diminishing my spelling and writing skills?” A question posted on Quora

The answer to that question is yes.  Many people are realizing that they are struggling more to remember how to spell things correctly when writing physically from important school essays, business reports and office circulars to simple things like a handwritten note. It is destroying people’s grammar and diminishing their writing skills.

With Autocorrect almost anyone can write a comprehensible sentence without even having to think grammatically about what they are trying to write. It has created an “auto-correct generation” unable to spell many common words.

People are now so dependent on the Autocorrect feature that when forced to perform without it, they experience a sense of insecurity and anxiousness. Relying on this feature that always solves their writing mistakes also makes their writing skills diminish. The Paradox of it all! Like did you know most people cannot spell the word definitely or necessary without using spell checkers.

Another pressing concern about Autocorrect in the writing community is the “correct grammar as you type” option on the feature. Sure the setting can be adjusted on the keypad’s setting panel but some people complain that it interferes with their thought process and does more harm than good. Sometimes it can edit too quickly making the author eliminate a step of revision or change what the writer is trying to say. This can be rather annoying experience as one has to review the entire document to check for changed words.

The delicate intricacies of writing such as rules-spelling, grammar word usage, punctuation are still very important even in the era of Autocorrect.  Autocorrect may be an important tool for writing in the current digital landscape but it can easily lead people to develop bad and lazy writing habits which are hard to break.

Don’t rely on available programs to be the final word on your selection of words and phrasing. Content is Key and neither autocorrect nor any other kind of resource can be counted to do the work for the writer.

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