“Because IM is overwhelmingly informal, by the time users reach college, they tend to not put a lot of effort into monitoring what they write” (Baron, 2008 ch.4). I completely disagree with Baron’s statement. I can only speak for myself, but as a student from Middle School to now my senior year in college I always knew when and where to speak, text, and write a certain way. I have never been lost or confused about the way I should speak or write. I remember my freshmen year of college and English teachers praising my writing abilities. Mainly because my sophomore English teacher in High School stated “I do not care how you speak and write in other classes, but in my class you’re going to speak and write proper English.” That statement has followed me since then.
I also do not agree that a new language is emerging from IM and text messaging, more like the survival of the fittest. Because if you are the person speaking in IM and text language you are going to make someone else look like a genius.
The language of text/IM is more like “talking” than writing, because if you are talking to your friends you are not worried about the use of contractions. Also you are not worried about abbreviations because talking is a lot faster than text or IM and you are able to get your point across sooner.
I am glad you chose to comment on that particular sentence. I also completely disagreed when Baron stated ” by the time users reach college, they tend to not put a lot of effort into monitoring what they write.” I absolutely know when to use abbreviated / text message style conversation and when to use more academic and professional language. I have rarely, if ever, proofread another classmate’s paper where they used Netspeak or IM language, either. However, I am not a teacher, so I cannot comment on whether netspeak appears frequently in papers or not. I would certainly hope it doesn’t!
I have actually seen several cases where Baron’s statement was true. Not only have I proofread papers that barely had complete thoughts amidst the acronyms, awkwardly shortened words, and crazy amount of exclamation points and ellipses, but one of my professors also tore apart an email he got from a student that was impossible to read because of all the netspeak. Maybe by the time they graduate, most students have figured it out, but I think many of the freshmen and sophomores still don’t care about school, and so they don’t care about how they communicate.
I disagreed with the statement that stated that college students put less effort into their writing because of text/IM as well. I, like you, have always known when and where it was appropriate to use informal language and when and where it is necessary to use formal language. I think the effort put into formal papers depends on the person and not the use of abbreviations in text/IM.