As many people can see, texting has become an extremely popular form of communication in the world today. Calling someone and actually speaking to them through the phone has become almost non existant. I'm sure you've heard the statements "texting is just easier" or "texting is so much faster" but texting has slowly but surely become a major way of communication between people, especially teenagers. With every text message sent, more and more slang is formed in the English language and other languages as well. Text messaging is a new tongue of language without even speaking actual words.
Texting is defined as the sending of short text messages to a device such as a cellular phone, PDA or pager. Text messaging is supposed to be used to send brief messages that are one hundred characters or less but today teenagers and even adults have taken texting to a whole new level. The increase of text messages sent increases the use of acronyms, chat acronyms, shorthand, and smileys. There are even quick reference books that you can now read to understand more of the "chat lingo" that you may see on a text message.
These books are for "anyone who has ever received a text message that looked like it was written in a foreign lanuage". A foreign lanuage? It seems a bit rediculous to me that people are refering to text message abreviations and chat acronyms as a different language, but in all reality that is really what it has become. I am a frequent texter but have never really gotten into using all of the symbols and abbreviations, so if i recieved a text with this lingo it would probably take me a minute or two to figure out what is trying to be said.
It is said that there is over 1,300 chat abbreviations used in text messages and instant messages today. This seems like a high number to most people but when you think of all the different groups that use the chat lingo, it is easier to understand how all the different types of abbreviations are formed. With the popularity and rise in text-based communication, it is likely that the number of chat abbreviations will only increase. There are more than 82 million people text messaging everyday and in 2009 74% of the world's digital messages were sent through a mobile device.
The amount of communication by text messaging today has gotten out of hand. Even though I am guilty of texting instead of calling, I am not one to use all of the chat acronyms and abbreviations. The "foreign language" that has been created by all of the chat lingo definitely does exist but i try not to use it. I don't think it is necessary when typing the whole word only takes a few more seconds. Some people mistakenly type chat acronyms into their essays and papers for school and that is another reason i avoid using the chat lingo. This new language that emerged from text messaging is only going to continue to grow and although I will never use it, I am curious to see how far it will go.
http://www.netlingo.com/word/texting.php
http://goldensectionenglish.blogspot.com/2009/02/gr8-deb8-text-messaging.html
http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp
