WARNING - 🌶SPICY TAKE ALERT🌶
I want to give a disclaimer that I may say some things that you won’t like to hear. Some times the truth stings a little. This may be one of those times.
But also know that I say these things because I want what’s best for you, and I believe you truly need to hear this. I’m not here to shame you. I want you to shine bright in every situation, and I feel that Grammarly users may be suffering unnecessarily. So it’s time I bring these issues to light.
Grammarly Users - You're Only Catfishing Yourself
Have you ever heard of the MTV show Catfish? The show where people fall in love with someone on the internet, only to find out after months, or years, of being strung along, their lover isn’t who they thought they were. They think they’ve got some gorgeous human being on the other end of the screen, but in reality, it’s an ordinary person who lacks the confidence to be their true self.
Quite honestly it’s a tragedy for both sides, as I would never wish that someone feels the need to be fake in order to fit in. On the other side, we have an innocent person who has been lied to, and had their time wasted. Their time being wasted is the saddest part about it, as they’ll never get it back.
Eventually, the truth always comes to light, and the catfishers find out that the only person they were lying to was themselves. They had to play so many mind games with themselves to make it work, and in the end they end up wishing they would’ve just been their true selves.
Grammarly Sells Itself as a “Magic Pill” of Confidence
Now to address the elephant in the room. Grammarly. They’re selling confidence disguised as an easy to use product that will make all of your English issues go away.
My biggest issue with Grammarly is that they’re selling their product as a root cause solution when in reality it’s just a pain killer. Of course it’s much easier to take a pain killer for your back issues instead of doing yoga for 30 minutes a day 7 days a week. And why wouldn’t you?! Let’s have a closer look:
I would never advocate for anyone to consistently take pain pills over getting to the root cause of their issues. However, I do understand why someone would take them and that there is a time and place for them as well as.
Now, let’s get down to the real issue.
Online Me vs. the Real Life Me - Having 2 Identities Is Not Only Exhausting, It’s Toxic.
Knowing we are perceived differently online, say on Instagram, where everything and everyone is perfect and “living their best life,” puts a lot of pressure on the “real” us. In reality, most of us are in the trenches everyday, fighting to make a better way for ourselves, and we know we’re not perfect. The differences between our digital selves and our “meat space” selves have led many to depression and anxiety.
In my opinion, Grammarly can have the same effect as Instagram. Creating a perfect version of ourselves on the computer screen creates a nervous version of ourselves in real life. We begin playing meta games with ourselves.
“I know that she knows my writing is flawless online so she will know I’m not really that smart when she hears my poor grammar in person.”
I’ve felt this pain and embarrassment myself. I used to use google translate to assist me with text messages. It never failed that in person I would be asked “do you have to use google translate to text me?” as it was obvious I couldn’t speak Spanish like I could write it.
I find it much easier to just write to my ability so that in person I can be honest. People have become much more helpful and encouraging after I started doing this, and it’s much easier to just tell the truth than try to make up some excuse for why I can’t speak like I can write on that particular day.
Now, the only times that I use google translate while writing are when I know the grammar is 1) beyond my level AND 2) it is very key in being correct so that I’m correctly understood.
I’ll close this thought with this question—do you recall making 100% on all of your grammar tests in your native language while you were in school? I certainly don’t, nor do I know anyone that did.
Quick Relief in Situations Where Grammar Is Important
The one good thing that I’ll say about Grammarly is that it does help prevent miscommunication in text such as email at work. At work there is simply no reason to not have perfect, or near perfect grammar, because the downside heavily outweighs the upside.
In text we simply have little to no room for error. When we think back to the 7/38/55 rule, that states words only carry 7% of the meaning of a message in verbal communication, we know that grammar is not of the biggest concern in our ability to be understood by people we are speaking to.
In text communication, however, that 7% suddenly turns into 100%, meaning we need to be on point with our word choice and how we construct our sentences. There’s nothing more frustrating than a rolling, snowballing email chain due to someone’s inability to express themselves properly through text.
Grammarly solves this pain, and I applaud it for that. Emails are high frequency situations, meaning they’re something we have to do a lot, and therefore there is a lot of value in having a tool that can remove the need to focus on grammar and allow us to focus on the message itself.
What’s It All Worth?—How Much Would You Pay for a Magic Confidence Pill?
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
So what is Grammarly charging for fish? And by fish I mean the diet pills that we take over and over and over that make us temporarily forget about our hunger for confidence.
So, fish costs $12 a month if we pay $144 up front, or it costs us $360/year if you pay monthly. But not all fish are real. The ones that have hooks on them are called bait.
I want you to ask yourself this—do you think you’re stupid?
If you’re reading this, the chances are next to none that you truly think that about yourself. And if you somehow do think that about yourself, the reality is there is a 0% chance that you actually are.
If you’ve moved from your home country to work in the US, realize only a very small portion of the world, 3.6% to be exact, has been able to move outside of their home country and work. Think of all of the fear that you have overcome, and overcome on a daily basis, to live and work outside of your comfort zone of you home country.
The main reason people use Grammarly stems from a couple different fears. The fear of looking stupid for having incorrect grammar, and the fear of causing issues due to being misunderstood in text. The latter (second) reason is most certainly rational. The first, not so much, and where I believe Grammarly is misleading people.
Using Grammarly will not help you improve your grammar. It can, if you take the time to study every single suggestion individually. But that’s not reality. Reality is that it’s a pain killer for every day nuisances that aren’t really that big of a deal outside of written text. But in all of their commercials, they make it look like using Grammarly will change how you speak.
I phone a friend named Maury, and he said…
Let’s Learn How to Fish Together
While Grammarly is treating you as the fish, I want to treat you as my friend. Going fishing with my friends is one of my favorite past-times, so I’d love if you’d join me on this fishing trip.
While Grammarly is killing confidence on a daily basis, at least it is providing some utility value in text and email situations.
In the mean time, I can assure you I have worse grammar than you in my non-native language of Spanish, and using my techniques, I’m confident to speak to anyone. With my poor grammar, I’m also able to make friends here on my journey through Latin America. If I can do it, I know you can!
I invite you to join me on my journey in Latin America on my YouTube channel, where I’ll be sharing the pains I go through with communicating in my non-native language, and how I overcome the challenges. You can subscribe here - Talk With Tone YouTube.
If you can relate to the feeling I described in this article, I highly suggest you go over to my website and check out the long term solutions that I have to offer to help you fulfill your hunger for confidence. I don’t claim to sell any magic pills. I admit it will take hard work, but I guarantee results if you put in the work.
If you know someone that you think could benefit from reading this, give it a share! If you related to it, give it a like! In the meantime, keep talking with tone!
Grammarly Is Selling You a Pill That's Too Good to Be True & Killing Your Confidence