Now, here's a late-at-night-out-of-my-mind-bleary post for yer :- )
............
Does anybody care to explain why some communities find minimal chatspeak, and emoticons, as annoying as they do. This isn't a challenge. It's a request for information.
We were skimming a comments thread at a big M's blog and somebody threw "LOL" into a comment.
Immediately, in Terrence Stamp fashion, another poster icily intoned "please do not use chatspeak here." (Of course, wtf is acceptable and encouraged.)
............
Taking a quick surf around the 'net, the argument I've seen against it is a straw man: somebody rips off a paragraph of chat-code such as .... " Ik i say "Niiiiiiccccceeeee" retarded but w/e xD .... Now do you get the point? "
No, I don't get the point yet. If somebody used chatspeak so much that it slowed down my reading, sure, that would defeat the purpose. I don't know of any chatspeak on MC, SSI, or in the comments that slows me down at all.
.............
A second argument: teen-angst phone text is going to replace good literature.
My response: it hasn't.
..............
A third argument: it's immature. It conjures images of 12-year-old girls on their pink cell phones.
My response: I have used, and do use, emoticons and LOL with my corporate supervisors. Who use them back. It's just one more type of lingo. A construction supervisor scribbles NRP on a change order: Not Our Problem. So?
..................
I've IM'ed with 15-year-old roto owners whose every 3rd response was LOL. But that wasn't lingo problem; it was a vapidity problem.
.................
I'm left completely opaque on this. I don't challenge others' tastes; I just don't comprehend the tastes on this one. Why is wtf amusing and functional, but lol is an offensive expression met with immediate, grim-jawed rebuke? Am sure there's a reason.
If :- ) and :daps: are inherently annoying, why does every chat board have an array of emoticons in the text editor?
..............
Is there a reason to use chatspeak?
As for me, I use it lightly because .... (1) 90% of human communication is nonverbal. If we were chatting in the Safeco stands and I needled you about something, my smile would defuse the situation. (Come to think of it, it wouldn't, but you know.)
The internet doesn't allow this. The internet is conducive to flame wars, hostility and outright animosity between people who would, in real life, be friends. The cold text isn't buffered by body language.
SSI endeavors to paste this buffer back in. We have chosen to cultivate a friendly, rather than hostile, environment by going out of our way to use emoticons.
Perhaps the cost associated is a *first impression* of immaturity to a first-time reader. The benefit gained, hopefully, is fewer flame wars. I approve of this tradeoff.
...............
And reason (2) is, I communicate on my phone when texting. What becomes a habit there, is going to be abandoned elsewhere only if I make a concerted effort to do so. You learn a specialized vocab, then you avoid it only given sufficient reason.
Comments open. Enlighten me.
Cheers,
Dr D