In an recent article in the Daily Collegian, the British Mobile Data Association says that text messaging is nearing its 15th anniversary. The first text message was sent in December 1992 when a British engineer sent a message from his computer to a colleague's mobile handset that said "Merry Christmas," according to the MDA's Web site. It was not until the FOX television show American Idol did text messaging really catch on. Now, companies such as AT&T record almost 2 billion text messages per week. With the popularity of text messaging, some experts fear that grammar will suffer. However, a Penn State English teacher says that she does not think text messaging is the problem but the lack of reading literature. Text messaging is a great communication tool that I use on a daily basis. It is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. I don’t believe that texting is hurting grammar or writing style, but I do agree with the Penn State English that a lack of reading is to blame.
Comments (1)
OMG my BFF rose!!!!
Remember those commercials? They're kind of viral on the interwebs. I think texting could be hurting some demographics' writing, as in those who do it all the time. Of course AIM doesn't really enforce good grammar either. I think if a program could translate the basic shortcuts and common mispellings of texters into proper english before it reaches the other texter, then at least they'll absorb some better grammar, if not employ it themselves. Who knows
Posted by Pat Mulholland | December 14, 2007 2:42 PM
Posted on December 14, 2007 14:42