Red Back Networks


Posted by Admin

Red Back Networks

Red Back Networks

“Twitter,” “Facebook,” and Texting

Social networks and texting are great. It is nice to be able to chat with friends, and find new and old friends quickly and easily. Young or old, female or male, more and more people are becoming members of these social networks and texting every minute. It’s easy to see the benefits of having a “Twitter” or “Facebook” account, and utilizing texts, but I want to point to a trend that has started, and is becoming worse and more visible each day.

A Downward Spiral

I am an English professor at a community college. When my students speak in class and write for me, I expect them to speak and write properly. That is, to speak and write in Standard English and use correct grammar. Yet, that is not what I usually get. It is one thing to hear my students shorten words in their speech or speak “slang,” but when a formal essay is handed in to me and I see these errors, even after peer editing, I cringe. Instead of “you,” I get “u.” “Your” or “you’re” becomes “ur” or “u r.” After drudging through their essays I ask myself, “how is this so?”

This answer, I believe, is multifaceted. First, shortening words or phrases is easy. “LOL,” means laugh out loud. “BRB”, means be right back. “TTYL,” means talk to you later. How do I know these? Well, I have been guilty of using them too; only in text messages, though. Why would my students want to send long phrases or longer words in a text, or post them on a “Facebook” or “Twitter” page when they can shorten them, thus saving them valuable time? The quicker they can get them to their friends – who anxiously await a response or post – the better.