We all make mstakes mistakes

In this day and age of autocorrect, spellcheck and grammar check, we should see fewer errors when typing on our computers and phones. But those phones have tiny screens that make it hard to type accurately, and autocorrect often misses the point of the sentence entirely. Spellcheckers work when the word is typed incorrectly, but their there they’re incapable of telling you when you’ve used the wrong word. That’s where grammar check steps in and attempts to understand the meaning of a sentence, proposing words or punctuation it “thinks” should be used. These marvels of technology work — sometimes.

There are entire websites dedicated to autocorrect fails, and even more that attempt to teach us proper spelling and grammar. We appreciate the laughter afforded by these sites at the expense of another person’s misfortune when texting their mom or typing a letter to their teacher. However, we dread being the unfortunate soul with the embarrassing message that gets emailed to, or pops up on, the screen of that new acquaintance we just met, our boss or the pastor of our church. We both love and hate these programs that have become a natural part of our daily living.

In today’s culture, we love being social and sharing our opinions online, so when we make a mistake and notice it, we appreciate the ability to fix the issue. We love the tools that allow us to correct an issue and help us avoid being pulled over on the side of the information superhighway by that ever-present law enforcement agency, the grammar police. Those interactions are always so much fun, and usually go a little something like this:

Random Internet commenter: “i’m board”

Grammar police: “You’re wood?”

Random Internet commenter: “what?”

Grammar police: “You said you were a piece of milled lumber, also known as a board.”

Random Internet commenter: “no i said i didn’t have anything to do”

Grammar police: “Oh, you must have meant that you were bored.”

Random Internet commenter: “thanks grammar nazi…”

Grammar police: “I think you meant to type Nazi.”

Most of us have experienced this tragic fate at one time or another out in the wilds of our online world. I want you to know that we at TheBlaze.com do listen to what you, our users, have to say. We read your comments, suggestions, and yes, even your complaints. (I know you probably thought that we archived complaints in the circular file, but we don’t.) You have been telling us, for quite some time now, that you want an edit button for your comments allowing you — as one eloquent user put it — “to edit out the stupid.” (That cracks me up every time I read it.)

We have done just that! We have created a brand-new tool that allows you to edit or delete a comment for three minutes after it has been posted to the site.

Some may ask, why three minutes? We felt that this limit gives everyone enough time to fix any mistakes they may have missed when posting the comment, without providing an avenue for our favorite Internet creature, the troll, to take advantage of a constantly editable comment. We want to encourage a community of respectful discussion and discourse, so we have placed a time limit on the ability to edit or delete a new comment.

As I said earlier, we do listen to you even though we can’t always respond to every question, comment or concern. We really do appreciate the constructive feedback and awesome suggestions that you all provide. Keep them coming, and we will continue to work towards making TheBlaze.com a better place for all of us!

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Corey Trice is a web developer for TheBlaze. Before joining TheBlaze in early 2014, he worked for a Dallas-area music startup as a developer. Corey has a degree in Web design and development and his M.S. in Internet marketing from Full Sail University. He lives in Lewisville, Texas, with his wife, daughter and son.