Acronyms
We live in a world full of acronyms. I'm not sure when it happened. One minute I was a kid getting berated for spelling floccinaucinihilipilification incorrectly (exaggerated and more than likely misspelled but you get the picture) - the next minute the more expedient the execution the more everybody seemed to embrace it.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for getting things organised in the shortest amount of time - just ask my husband why he doesn't like my cooking - but after having grammatical excellence shoved down my throat with a side serving of dictionary for years by my parents, my school and university - I find it difficult to admit that it was all for naught and join the dedicated ranks of OMG itz gr8t any time in the near future.
Admittedly, the frugal Grinch in me can see the merit of how the smaller the text sent would mean the less data that is used; however, I'm still partially resistant regardless of the savings. Having said that, I have been the perpetrator of the occasional OMG, LMAO, WTF and LOL in my casual online conversations in recent times.
The spoken and written word over time has changed enormously and I suspect we are careening towards a new era in communications - some of it good, some of it not so good and some of it weird. Good grammar in certain situations can take it to the next level. I have never seen anybody win an argument or debate online by misspelling, phoneticising or using acronyms to solidify their point. Credibility is lost once you make a mistake or misuse a word. They will crucify you online and it is there for eternity.
Acronyms are almost certainly here to stay, however. They are fun, easy to use and are on their way to creating a whole new language that will more than likely be infused into future generations as though they had always been a part of it.
It's true language is evolving gradually(as is usual for evolution) and we get to be part of that development and experience. There seems to be a significant influence of smartphones, the internet and social media in this reform and opposing the fact that soon, The change in language and communication as we know it would be complete, is simply being unproductive. (this is a personal opinion)
Thanks for your input. I try to sit back and look at the big picture and how past language has changed (quite dramatically in the English language) and I suppose that it is true - a natural evolution of language based on cultural exposure, education and into the new realm of social media interaction. It will be interesting to see it change over the next few hundred years but unfortunately I (and undoubtedly all of us here) will not be here to see it and analyse it.