In grade school students are typically taught how to cite in Modern Language Association (MLA) style. This is a great style of citing for the casual writer. However, the Associated Press (AP) style of writing is much different from the more traditional MLA style, which is effective when writing books, doing research reports, etc. The AP style works better when trying to communicate to mass publics. Imagine if every newspaper, magazine, and online publication was written differently whether it be MLA, AP, Chicago, etc. Think about how annoying it is to read someone’s blog that is grammatically or stylistically incorrect. I feel that the use of a uniform system of writing and citing is not only for the writers benefit but also the readers.
JakeinPR 