Thurlow’s part of the article regarding webspeak or netlingo was particularly interesting to me, because it has been something that comes up regularly in my every day life. It has become a part of my life, when I am trying to type and have to read back and make sure I did not accidently use netlingo when doing something proffesional. It has definitely left an impact in our culture. It seems that these technologies for communication have become an essential feature of both popular and commercial rhetoric about new media cultures and especially of so called ‘global communications’ (Thurlow, 1-2). Webspeak has been viewed as bad, because it seems like the English language is suffering. New words are being made up in webspeak, then later turn to accepted words when talking to someone in person. Also, there is the thought that with these technologies texting is damaging the English language, as well. I am not sure what extent would I consider texting damaging to English, because I do shorthand, but I also use the autocorrect in texting, when I am not sure of how a word is spelled. It has come in handy, and sometimes backfired when it autocorrected into something you were not trying to say, and you hit send.
There is also the issue of when is it right to use acronyms, emotions, shorthanding. It is easier to shorthand when there is a shortage on time, and when you are trying to get your point across fast. But, would you shorthand your boss in an email? Maybe it depends on the type of job and relationship you have with your boss. Then there are all these acronyms that people use. If the professor asked if we knew the answer to something, would we answer IDK? Also, using emotions accompanied with our writing can direct us to the correct way to interpret the writing. Maybe you have a boss who is really strict and not the type to joke around, not to say he/she does not have a sense of humor, but they send you an email. You would probably read it as a serious email, unless there was a smiley somewhere in there, then you would change the tone of the email. So many things to think about now, but some of the things are just so familiar and part of our lives that we no longer have to think about them.
You bring up the unwritten rules, or “netiquette” when choosing appropriate times to use netspeak abbreviations. There use to be books written on correct dining etiquette, so maybe in the future there will be books, or lessons in school, that will teach us netiquette lessons on when best to use netspeak. We may need this kind of guidance in the future if these kind of cues stick around.
Once upon a time, in the olden days of the last century, they taught us how to write “business letters” in elementary school and middle school. Of course, when we wrote notes to each other in class, we did not use addresses and formal headings. So in some ways, text messaging is the new form of passing notes – these were always informal. What is missing, I think, is a discussion in K-12 of formal electronic communication. I had a grad student do her major project on this last year – on the need to digital literacy education especially for college freshmen. Many of them, for example, do not use salutations in email, or even include their names. This tends to make professors (especially older profs) mad.
We need education to help kids know when it is ok to be informal in texts or emails, and when they need to be more formal. I think the problem for writing netiquette handbooks is that these norms are still very much in flux.
I agree with both Martha and Meagan. I remember when the word “bootylicious” was accepted into Webster dictionary, I was appauled. Because something that was a song/joke was being taking so seriously. In Business Communication there is a section about “netiquette” warning people not use all caps, because the receiver will think that you are yelling.
I did not get the memo about using caps soon enough, I had many friends thinking I was yelling at them many times, but now I know.
Exactly, my teacher had to explain that to a lot of students.
Meagan you made me smile :) . I think you are right, if they continue to stick around we might find our selves taking netiquette classes, so we know the proper usage netlingo, and the correct places to be used.
I agree with you that it is important to choose the right time and person in when to use the shorthand. In fact, short hand is not a new thing, it was there long time a go when the secretaries used to use the typewriters instead of the computers to type the note tha her boss give them. So, they used to use specific abbreviations to write their notes faster, though, it didn’t destroy their English language because they used shorthand to save the time not to fit into new tech. Therefore, I don’t see anything wrong for someone to create his or her netiquette rules to be moderate and control the CMC instead of letting it controlling us.
How do people know when to use informal language or formal language? I think you hit on an interesting question in your post. I did not grow up with text messaging or social media. AOL instant messenger was fairly popular when I was in high school, but between the terrible slowness of the internet and the amount of siblings I have, I didn’t really get a chance to use it too much! As a result, I do not really have a problem moving back and forth between formal and informal situations. I do worry about the younger generations who have grown up using informal netspeak all the time. Perhaps there should be a Miss Manners style book to help them navigate what situation is appropriate to use IDK and what situations are not. Maybe we should write it!