Personal Thoughts: Language on the Internet

Whilst doing my assignment, I began to think about our hap-hazard way of writing on the Internet, though there are guidelines in place that we are all meant to follow, it worries me that the language we use whilst chatting or blogging, or even whilst we are creating web sites, is becoming far too informal and abbreviated. Slowly with the use of text messaging, chatting and blogging, we are creating a new language, a web language that is full of abbreviations, smiley faces and terrible spelling. Whilst I think it is absolutely incredible to sit in on one of these chat sites and watch them communicate as if they were speaking a different language, I am beginning to think that we might eventually start becoming a little socially handicapped, we no longer need to use phones because we have the Internet, even with our mobiles, we are able to just send messages. Shopping can be done online, learning can be done online, most businesses now have chat sites where we can contact them..............are we eventually going to lose our power of speech???? Don't get me wrong, I think the Internet and everything it involves is amazing, but what is going to happen to actually being face to face with someone, the human touch, the expressions on a persons face, a REAL smile, proper social interaction!

Having gone to a school where English was VERY important, and the importance of spelling was drummed into you, (even though admittedly I am a terrible speller!) I have been reading web site after web site, blog after blog, where bad grammar, bad spelling and a ridiculous amounts of abbreviations are being used. There are only so many mistakes you can put down to typos. Even with spell checker, people are getting complacent, what message is that sending out to the Internet prodigies we have as children today? That it is alright not to be able to spell, or even write properly for that matter. That it is fine to use silly abbreviations instead of descriptive and powerful words?

My conclusion to my rant is that as advanced internet users, we should make it our mission to make sure that everything we write and publish has a certain degree of correct, formal English, as well as good grammar, to set a good example to those surfing the web.