The number of people who use the internet now is phenomenal. It never fails, when you are bored, log into MSN, Facebook, Gmail, any median of social networking, and there will be at least one person to talk to. Net lingo has evolved rapidly, with many being able to boast of speaking a new language fluently, net-speak, chat lingo.
Now, I won't lie, I chat all the time. But one thing that I have never grasped is the "short-hand" language that many use. Perhaps it's because I'm not exactly a slow typer, but the shorthand has never appealed to me, it makes my head hurt trying to read it. Not to mention you look stupid trying to write like that. Would you speak like that? NO, then why the hell should I suffer reading through that?!
Taking into consideration how frequently we all use chat medians, the 'netiquette' that comes with it bears its own intricate rules of language. CAPS is of course seen as 'shouting,' your virtual bitch out if you will. The manner in which we interpret netiquette was put to the test for me the other day. One of my friends was attempting to chat with me, while her Caps lock was broken. Rather than a friendly conversation, I was reading her typing as shouting at me, as if from across a ravine...."SUZ. HOW ARE YOU? IS EVERYTHING OK?" Why are you shouting! I'm only on the other side of the monitor! Turn your virtual voice down! gah. Fortunately, she has now remedied the problem, and our usual "inside voice" conversations can resume. It truly makes you realise however, how much our communication skills and conversations have taken on an "internet" aspect if you will, where having a conversation on MSN or the likes, is just as stimulating, emotionally involved, and interactive, as a face to face conversation. Imagine what the communication medians of the future will bring us, and what new levels of language will evolve to support the new system...
And that...is my thought for the day.
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