1. The Internet and the English Language By Eric Tindall

2. Overview  With so many people using the Internet one would expect peoples writing skills to improve.  Peoples writing skills are actually getting worse because of shorthand  Example: A woman could type 80 wpm with perfect grammar for her work.  When it came to her e-mail she used net-jargon like thx, how R U, and cul8r.

3. Evolution or Devolution  The Internet was originally developed to transfer files quickly.  Nowadays people use the Internet to send e-mail and chat with people from around the world.  Communication between people is fast paced and this leads to smaller words and abbreviations.

4. In Praise of Words  Although communication on the Internet is written, the way it sounds is closer to two people talking together.  Internet users tend to “speak” in a loose and informal tone.  Internet users are now using a form of stenographers shorthand by leaving out large word.  Traditional secretarial contractions such as wrt (with respect to) are now in the same league as (grin) and LOL (laugh out loud ).

5. The “Invisible Person” Syndrome  Most people are anonymous on the Internet.  This leads to the mentality of why strive for perfect English when no one knows or cares who you are.

6. Training and Tools  A lack of computer training can be one cause of using poor English.  A person with good writing skills will start to cut corners to save time so they can spend more time learning about the Internet.  Spell checkers are a good tool but they are not perfect.  People tend to add words to the spell checker that are incorrect leading to a dictionary with miss spelled words.

7. All Things Must Change  Language has always changed with time.  For example the medieval chariot started to be called a carriage and now it is called a car.  Popular words and expressions become part of the English language over time. This is how language evolves.  People have their own set of writing rules when communicating over the Internet. Whether this is good or bad is yet to be determined.

8.  Any Questions ?