The Death of “CAPITAL LETTERS” in the Hands of “gen g” Children!

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, I sent an important message to a young CEO based in the US. Fortunately, I received a response within 30 minutes. However, the text did not follow sentence case; it was completely in lowercase! A few months back, I argued with my son about a pitch. He named the pitch “ekam”; however, I insisted on keeping it as “Ekam”!

A couple of days ago, I received an article titled, “The death of capital letters: why gen Z loves lowercase,” published in The Guardian (theguardian.com). The article argues, “For many members of gen Z, lowercase writing is not just a style preference but a cultural marker, reflecting their values and attitudes to tradition. Influential artists such as Billie Eilish, 23, have reinforced this aesthetic, using lowercase in song or album titles such as don’t smile at me or my future.”

I am habituated to reading "THE HINDU", a newspaper. Look at the Gen Z kids—they love to wear gadgets by “boAt,” founded in 2016 and launched as a lifestyle brand for electronic wearables (boAt Lifestyle). Look at the “Zepto” logo (zepto), an online grocery delivery service that offers quick, reliable, and convenient deliveries, launched in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya V. To validate my research, I went through Aadit Palicha’s LinkedIn profile. He built his first startup at the age of 17, named gopool. The logo again—small case “gopool.”

Gen Z (Generation Z) refers to people born between 1997 and 2012. They believe lowercase text is softer and more personal, avoiding the "formal" or "aggressive" tone that capitalized text can sometimes carry. It aligns with the minimalist, internet-culture-driven aesthetic (“tumblr”, or how brands like "spotify" and "paypal" stylize their names).

Being in the academic community, I sometimes tend to judge based on the style of text. But we need to realize that at 50, we are becoming old—accept the next generation wholeheartedly and welcome them, welcome their language, welcome their text, and more. Of course, it is tough during the transition, but time teaches us.

In Microsoft Word, we have five options—“Sentence Case,” “lower case,” “UPPER CASE,” “Capitalize Each Word,” and “tOOGLE cASE.”

On a lighter note, I hope Gen Alpha (2010–24) does not switch to “tOOGLE cASE”!!

“are you ready to write text in lowercase? or “gEETING rEADy iN tOOGLE cASE”?”

Ravi Saripalle