In my opinion the biggest difference between books and the net is books are edited by professionals who have a strong knowledge of the language, while on the net people can write any old thing they want and use whatever horrible spelling, vocabulary, and grammar that they want.
I am not a big book reader, but there is no question in my mind that people who read a lot tend to have a better command of the language and know what “sounds” correct, and what punctuation to use. I was lucky to be raised by people with college degrees who do read a lot, and from a part of the country that tends to use decent English, so even though I don’t read much I communicate pretty well, especially verbally. My biggest mistake when writing is I often don’t go back and edit.
Most people think I read a lot, but the truth is I watch TV a lot, I talk to a lot of people, and I do read, but not books, just short snippets of things in magazines or the internet. My interests are in things like science and medicine, so things I do know sound “smart” maybe to some people, but really it doesn’t matter the topic in my opinion. Someone who has incredible knowledge of fishing, or building cabinets I also find impressive. They might have learned everything from apprenticeships and trial and error. I have a business degree, a degree in marketing specifically, and a lot of my business knowledge is from working in retail for many years. Definitely, I learned a lot in college, I don’t diminish the education, but a lot of people look down on people who work “at the mall” and that is ridiculous.