Grammar and spelling still matter because people judge you by them: employers, clients, and readers see mistakes as carelessness. Autocorrect and texting shortcuts make it easy to stop paying attention, but they cannot tell you which word you meant.
Most people write on smartphones, tablets, or computers with autocorrect and automatic spelling suggestions, so many stop thinking about spelling and grammar at all. Yet there are still good reasons to get them right, especially when you write to an employer. Texting habits make proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar easy to forget.
The texting generation
Acronyms and abbreviations are everywhere in text messages. To get their point across faster, many people write "C u soon" and "WAN2TLK" instead of "See you soon" and "Want to talk". The problem with these shortcuts is that people get used to them. They forget, or never learn, how many words are really spelled.
That matters beyond the chat window. Many employers look at the social media profiles of people who apply for a job, to judge their writing as well as their character. A profile full of shortcuts and errors can count against you. For a few spelling rules that are easy to get wrong, see there, their, and they're.
Do not always rely on autocorrect
Many people let their phones and computers do their spelling for them. That can trip you up, because autocorrect cannot always tell problem words apart. Most people have struggled with it's and its or your and you're at some point. If you do not know the difference between such words yourself, you will not notice when your phone or computer changes the right one into the wrong one. The rules for its and it's and for your and you're take a minute to learn.
Avoid lazy English patterns
Being a native speaker does not protect you from lazy habits. Many people who learn English as a second language study the spelling rules more carefully than native speakers ever did. So whoever you are, it pays to check your writing.
Mistakes also cost you readers online. Search engines try to show people useful, trustworthy pages, and a text full of errors makes a poor impression on the readers who do find it. Many of them will leave and look for a page that seems more reliable.
Get it right where it counts
If you are writing a resume or a letter to an employer, make sure your spelling is correct and professional. Your grammar tells a company a lot about you, all the more so in jobs where writing is part of the work. The Spell Checker marks spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes in a text before you send it. It is fine to know all the latest acronyms and texting shortcuts, but remember why grammar and spelling matter the next time you post or write something.