Before the Adhesions Forum appeared on the Internet (in April 1999), there were no forums which were specific to adhesions...and there were very few messages about adhesions. So I and many other adhesions-sufferers would post messages at some of the other forums. My favorites were (and still are) :
1.) ** Endometriosis Pavilion Forum ( http://forums.obgyn.net/endo/ )
2.) ** Healthseek Forum ( http://www.healthseek.com/ )
3.) ** Women's Health Forum ( http://forums.obgyn.net/forums/womens-health/ )
After we arranged to get access to the Internet, I attended the above forums strictly as an onlooker. I don't recall what my message was at this particular forum - but I decided to type the title of my post in capital letters. I couldn't see anything wrong with doing this. In fact, I thought a title in caps would perhaps attract more attention.
Well, it did!! Not the kind of attention I was looking for, however. I received an email from Mary Shoup in which she advised me to not use all capital letters. In her letter she told me that:
"Capital letters mean shouting" -- in Internet language.
I will repeat what she told me in that letter - so that you too will be able to see the effect of a title typed entirely in capitalized letters. She told me:
CAPITAL LETTERS MEAN '"SHOUTING" -- in Internet language.
When she told me that, I felt like a little kid who had just done something wrong ! This is what registered for me when I read the capitalized titles which followed my post. This meant shouting to me.
Perhaps now you, as a reader and a person who posts a messages, will understand that sometimes there can be a hidden meaning - depending upon a person's previous experience.