With the dawn of the .com era, written language was forever changed.
Languages have suffered as a result of personal computers and handheld
technology. When personal computers swept the nation by storm, so did a new way
to communicate; this form of communication became so popular it developed its
own nickname—chatspeak. Chatspeak is the term for acronyms and slang words used
in texting and chatrooms. Examples of chatspeak are TTYL (talk to you later),
BRB (be right back), ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), and l8r (later).
This informal language has negatively impacted users’ ability to communicate
properly when necessary; due to the mass amount of technology used in modern
education, it is easy to see the influence chatspeak has on the developing
minds of children. It is, after all, an informal language and is not the only
way that people communicate, but in order to have a more articulate generation
it should be discouraged as common practice.
I wouldn't necessarily say that language has suffered (it's continuously changing and evolving), but I see your point. I've only been texting for a few years, and I didn't have a cell phone of my own before I graduated high school, but even then, I use acronyms quite a bit, and have used them since high school.
ReplyDeleteI have a harder time reading chat slang sometimes than I do old cursive.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely that language has suffered as a result of increased integration of technology in society. Or rather, technology has been a medium for us to degrade our own language. Nice post.
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