interestingly enough (cause you all care so much) I have just finished writing an essay related to the internationalisation of the English language.
well anyway... to the point
F vs. f
Standard English is determined by how the "prestigious" (repsected/authorities in...?) writers, publishers and editors...use the language. According to an article I quoted for the essay (Gumta...linguistics professor at University of NE, Australia)
Anyway, so this can be determined by the audience, and the publishing circle, so that the STANDARD is flexible to adapt with regional variations in dialect (thong in Aus is a type of sandle/shoe with a string/rubber peice between your toes , in US=lingere/swimwear) and text type (if there are any specific jargon for business/science/IT/etc.) including BLOGS
she did some websurvey with abreviations such as L8 for late, and found that the majority of these were still based on SE...
The crux of the matter is a standard is not set in stone, but depends on where you are... "Formal" vs. "informal" uses of the language is only determined by those you are trying to converse with...
so F vs. f.
for our forum would be whatever we have decided (I guess that was F) howeever this would dictate how we use the capitol leters in our other writings, and so form the backbone of a global SE...
Hope you enjoyed that trip down the lane...
A wealth of information needs its uses... as it can't buy much bread or milk.