Thursday, January 24, 2008

Instant messaging & Language

Borgmann discussed in the introduction the idea that the way we use language has been damaged. Computer and technology can both influence our language. I believe this is very true, but only to a certain extent. There is a certain language that is used for instant messaging or text messaging that is completely different than academic language. Most of the language used in instant messaging and text messaging is a form of short hand for example lol, which refers to the statement laughing out loud. There are many other forms of this so called short hand that could only be known between two people who are having that conversation or only to people who use instant or text messaging. I know my parents would not know what lol or ttyl (talk to you later) stands for. This is probably because they do not use text or instant message or grow up during the same time frame that I have.
In high school I was frequently using instant message and when I needed to write an e-mail to a teacher or type up a paper for school I noticed I was using the messaging lingo. It was tricky to train my brain to use a certain language for a school paper and use other language for instant messaging. After using short hand it seemed that it dominated my brain with that lingo. For example when I was typing a paper instead of typing you I would type u every single time I used that word. After practicing I was able to change from using correct language when writing a paper to talking to my friends on the internet language. So in essence it can be difficult in the beginning to be able to do both, but after you continue to practice, it can become second nature. So I believe that the computer and technology has an effect on one’s language, but it doesn’t have to have this same effect in everything we do.

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