[lincpimp]

Although not directly related to your quest, I find that after the decade plus I have used online forums for info gathering I have developed linguistically quite a lot.

I can make sense of the most garbled mess of words, devoid of punctuation. Mostly thanks to this forum... And the drunks that inhabit it from time to time!!!

I also feel I have gained a more worldly understanding of the English language. I would relate this to reading posts from other English speaking people who live in different areas of the world.

And trying to convey sarcasm and wit via text is quite difficult so I do feel forum use has expanded my vocabulary.