Netspeak has an influence on how we communicate online, but it doesn’t entirely alter our communication behaviors across mediums. We may form some habits, but we can also break them accordingly.  Whether we are having a face-to-face conversation or writing an academic paper, there are differing expectations. This doesn’t mean the demise of the proper English language; it is a practical adjustment for the medium.

Thurlow references Baron’s claim of a hybrid language; it has a blend of characteristics from both spoken and written. I agree with this hybrid claim, language in these mediums is a different animal. Baron lists some characteristics of each traditional category and the hybrid. Speech is a dialogue, that exists in real-time. SMS text messages are similar to speech in their “dialogic exchanges,” yet the language still resembles more “interactive written discourse” (6). Structurally, messages use a variety of abbreviations and contractions like we do more commonly in speech than in formal writing (Baron,46). SMS and IMs are also similar to speech in their fleeting importance and relevance. The more casual constructions lead to a sense of “transience and ephemerality” (Thurlow, 14). We want to communicate without it feeling like a chore, and it often resembles speech. SMS does not replace face-to-face communication or directly translate the language we speak into real life (we don’t say lol, idk, gtg, brb in real life speech conversation). The language complements our understanding and gets folded into part of our life. In such a time-constrictive environment, brevity is necessity. The writer must make “various types of shortenings: abbreviations, acronyms, contractions” in an attempt to create a coherent message. Especially in IM, utterances get broken into parts to indicate the speaker is working on making a point (Baron).

The leveling of the language is somewhat creating a democratization of expression. The loosening requirement for formality is encouraging more communication, since entrants don’t have to learn proper literate forms to get their messages across. While there is no universal language, formal or otherwise, it is becoming more flexible. Time will tell what effects this has on our communication behavior.