by Sarah Khalil

Every day of my life, I sign onto AIM in hopes of chatting with a few of my friends. Things will go smoothly for about five minutes, until someone responds with the inevitable ridiculous abbreviation or smiley face. According to those I speak to, I must be quite the entertainer. The phrase “LOL” has become as common as “hey.”

The current fad of internet lingo, emoticons and texting abbreviations leaves me asking the age-old question “WTF?” I constantly wonder why today’s youth feels the need to shorten words, phrases and even human emotions. Are kids really that lazy? Or has this phenomenon caused them to lose their ability to express themselves on a deeper level? The world may never know.
I can only suggest that this language regression is taking a negative toll on society. While some view internet slang as a harmless form of quick communication, I find the habit to be damaging to society, and not to mention extraordinarily irritating. I fail to see how diminishing the English language could possibly be beneficial. Even if it does save time to shorten words, what valuable activities are we doing instead of conversing with each other?

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