TXTNG

Quite a few of the articles I came across this week were debating whether or not texting was destroying language skills. This was mostly in response to Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association's announcement of the number of texts sent in 2009: 35.3 billion. According to Vancouver Sun this is up 70% over last years statistics. These statistics really emphasize the latest shift in technological dependence. Technology rapidly changes and thus so do the trends. What is most surprising about texting, however, is how people have abbreviated language to make this form of communication easier. Along with the change that has been implemented texting has created even more words, the "-exting" words. The Montreal Gazette 's article even presents -exting words that I hadn't heard of or used before such as wexting: walking and texting.

Many of these articles claim that these invented words are corrupting normal spoken and written language. It's true that texting has created a whole new category of words. However, this is true of almost every new technology. It is how language adapts and changes with new inventions. What worries people most is the shear number of words introduced. However, according to a linguist quoted in the Gazette, 90% of these will fade away as the texting phenomenon levels off.

The next large concern is about the impact of texting on the brain and social skills. In 2008 a book called Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 was published to address many of these concerns. NPR's review of the book highlighted some of the key ideas that invalidate many of the arguments that texting is ruining the minds of children. For one, studies have shown that children who text actually do better in spelling. How does this makes sense since so many people use abbreviations when texting? The experts hypothesize that in order to use abbreviations there needs to be a deeper knowledge of the language and its sounds. This is encouraging evidence that perhaps texting is not destroying our generation. However, none of these articles come close to addressing what should be done about the social repercussions of texting. When a third of all adolescents send more than 100 texts per day, how are their social abilities being affected? Will they eventually just grow out of this rather obsessive habit?