Is Internet Slang Destroying Our Writing Skills?

I will be the first to admit that I was among the last of my friends to make use of instant messaging and text messaging technology. I was the laughingstock for the longest time because of my cheap, simplistic cell phone. While I don't use IM services now, I have become somewhat of a texting addict due to the convenience and simplicity as a form of communication. One thing that has always annoyed me about instant and text messaging is the use of internet slang or LOL-speak. Using shortened forms of words or acronyms has become a common practice. We have all seen examples of internet slang, for example, "idk" instead of "I don't know" or expressing laughter in terms of "LOL" or "ROFL." In the beginning I would go through the painstaking task of typing complete words on my cell phone and using correct punctuation. Using internet slang just seemed wrong to me. Perhaps I was traumatized in a grade-school language arts class, but for whatever reason I refused to use chat-speak. Now, out of convenience I will use "idk" or "u", but only when texting, and only if I don't have time to type out the whole word or phrase. Some people will use internet slang on social networking sites, such as Facebook, but I can't bring myself to do that because the words are out there for everyone to see. Still, because it's an electronic means of communication I can overlook it. In fact, I have no problem with acronyms or mnemonic devices as a method for remembering things. In teaching we use acronyms all the time. Do you remember how you learned the order of operations? Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. People have been shortening phrases for a long, long time. But, with people becoming increasingly dependent on texting, are they forgetting everything they learned in English class?

I first became aware of this issue when grading papers in a 9th grade class last year. Someone had written, "LOL, IDK!" instead of an answer. I made a note for the student to remember not to use slang on school assignments and hoped it was an isolated incident. To my dismay, it was not. Papers were coming in with the likes of "wit" instead of "with" and "wut" instead of "what" with regular frequency. Instead of writing out "for" or "to" students were writing "4" or "2" or forming plural nouns by adding a "z" to the end. Assignments looked more like the printout of a text message conversation than anything academic, and it was frightening. As these students were 9th graders, they were around the age where they had probably spent several years texting and chatting online, so internet slang was firmly planted in their impressionable little minds. I am sure that they didn't learn lol-speak in school and I wondering if they really thought those words were spelled that way (except for the numerals) or if they were just careless and not taking the time to proofread work to turn it in. Sadly, it seemed as though many students really couldn't spell many of the words they were "text-writing" or understand why the use of completing assignments using internet slang wasn't the best practice. The only things I can do now are attempt to help students differentiate between formal writing and sending an email to a friend and focus on spelling and grammar as much as possible.

I do not know what the future is going to be like for people who excessively use internet slang. Unless the times change very dramatically and using internet lingo on a job application or resume becomes socially acceptable, they will have to get a firm grasp on their writing skills or go through life coming across as uneducated on paper. Oh, and BTW, if you're at your computer and have time to type out things correctly when posting where the whole world can judge you, I recommend doing so.