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Home » The Famous Blog » Txt Spk…It’s Gr8!

Txt Spk…It’s Gr8!

June 4, 2010 - Last Modified: June 4, 2010 by Andrew Rondeau

TXT Blogging

Over the past couple of years  or so, our language has changed.

In the past, it was considered bad manners to write using abbreviations, and people who shortened language to get a point across were considered lazy or slapdash.

And then, something changed…

When the textual revolution came about, we all started to reap the benefits of communicating quickly, and the pitfalls of predictive texting started to change the way we contacted each other, forever.

This linguistic revolution has changed everything. You only have to look at web sites such as urban Dictionary to see that our language is changing, and we need to adapt in order to stay ahead of the modernization of our communications.

The Urban Dictionary – Changing The Way We Write

This site has been set up as an alternative to the traditional dictionaries available online. All you have to do is log in, and you can set definitions for new words. Notable examples include:

  • ‘Lol’ – to laugh out loud (taken from the abbreviation on texts and Facebook)
  • ‘Buy-Curious’ – someone who wanders around shops without actually purchasing anything, to kill time
  • ‘Protohype’ – the process of leaking a prototype device to generate buzz about a product you don’t quite yet have ready for market, to a friendly tech website who will promote the gizmo well before it’s ready to go.

Unless you’ve been buried under a rock for the past few months, it’s impossible to miss the way this language is penetrating our conversations.

So, what does this mean for us, as Blog writers?

How do we adopt this new language trend in our writing?

The truth is, as a regular blogger, not much has changed.

We now have more power to communicate emotions, by using smilies or phrases such as ‘Lol’, but spattering your blog with this kind of language doesn’t really put across the right impression, depending on who you are writing for.

Just as our daily newspapers haven’t really adopted the new craze for shortening language, so we don’t have to feel obliged to resort to abbreviations and slang to get our point across on our blogs.

Sometimes, it can be handy to shorten things for our readers, but overall, it seems that our blogs have not been early adopters of the new language trend.

Will this change in the future?

Different blogs have different purposes.

If you are writing about a timber company, using slang isn’t going to endear you to your potential customers. Similarly, a Showbiz blog detailing the intricacies of our favorite celebrities isn’t going to read well if it is written in stuffy language.

The trick is matching your writing style to your audience.

How do we know what ‘voice’ to choose when we write?

Essentially, you know your audience best.

Whatever industry you are in, the likelihood is you are an expert in your field, and so you naturally revert to the best writing style for your own blog. If you try and adapt and change to suit potential new readers, the chances are you will end up coming across as fake, and turn your readers off.

The bottom line is, I think you need to be yourself.

This is one of the best qualities a blog writer can have – to be true to yourself, and your industry, and use your in-built knowledge of your readers and what they are looking for, to write your blog in the best possible way.

WKD! 🙂

What’s your view? How has your language / blog writing changed? Please share your views in the comments below.

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Filed Under: How To Blog

About Andrew Rondeau

Follow @andrewrondeau

Andrew is a full-time Internet Marketing Specialist and blogger from the UK. At his blog he shares all his knowledge and experience on how to make a blog .

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{ 40 Responses }

  1. ZK says:
    Twitter and mobile messaging enjoying this and may be our short URL is also a product of this thought ... who knows. But yeah this one is quite popular in young generation of all around the globe. Lol is common word which you can see in many comments area except that I do not think that any other word will come to our collection.
  2. Christian Louboutin says:
    Thanks for posting! I really enjoyed the report. I've already bookmark this article.
  3. Colleen says:
    "The truth is, as a regular blogger, not much has changed." Very true. Just yesterday my daughter and her friend, both college students, were writing for us and I reminded them that good writing appeals to all types of folks and at a 10th grade reading level. Avoid abbreviated words only young folks would understand, and also avoid words that require a dictionary for most folks. Great title btw! ;)
    • Andrew says:
      Colleen, Great advice to your daughter. Did she take note? Andrew
      • Colleen says:
        The better question is, "Does she have a choice?" [grins] We pay her college bills! :)
        • Andrew says:
          Nice - lol. Andrew
  4. Latief says:
    Its happened every where but its just the way to save time when using sms Andrew , especially for teenager they love to write gr8 than lol!
    • Andrew says:
      I'm just glad I'm no longer a teenager - I wouldn't have coped! Andrew
      • Latief says:
        I'm still teenager inside, especially the spirit Andrew :)
        • Hesham says:
          LOL! that's a nice one ;)
          • Andrew says:
            Latief Yeah - same here! My head still thinks I'm 17 - my body, 50! Andrew
  5. Blazing Minds says:
    It's funny how we've integrated txt spk into our lives, I even use it now in written letter where I add LOL etc when I've written something funny ;) Even more so in blogging where adding smilies is just a done thing for any blogger to add there emotions and show what they are thinking...
    • Andrew says:
      And it's been integrated without us even really knowing or thinking about it.
  6. kristel says:
    Urban Dictionary = Changing the way we write? Hahaha. Couldnt agree more.
  7. Hesham says:
    Nice post Andrew, I am the worst and the last person who can use these abbreviations lol, probably it's a culture problem for me , but I am trying to learn.. so.. maybe!
    • Andrew says:
      Hesham I'm the same! I hear myself saying 'What?' when people use some abbreviations. Andrew
  8. Arafat Hossain Piyada says:
    In my case, the language first change when I started to use SMS and that was not much cheap that time like it now. Soon, Twitter come in my life and I started to use this online. However, I'm yet not much familiar to use those slang in article but see many blogger using that. Actually it depend on niche, I saw personal and young blogger use this type of text most but I'm happy with smilies.
    • Andrew says:
      Arafat, Smilies I can cope with as well! Re: Twitter. I can understand using abbreviations on Twitter. What's your fav? Will be interesting what the next generation use, won't it? Andrew
      • Arafat Hossain Piyada says:
        Andrew, I think RT is one of my favorite txt spk, I think most blogger going to agree with me :) Yes, it's going to be interesting how next generation going to use it, however, it still will be useless for most of the problogger until people started to use these slags when they search. Arafat
        • Sunil Jain says:
          I agree with Arafat :) Even 'RT' is one of my favorite txt spk and also this text shortening is from the time when we had started chatting with each other either through sms or messenger clients . Now it is widely used in Twitter as in only 140 characters =>"How will you express yourself to your followers " or "Hw w'l u exp urself 2 ur followers" :) When it comes to my blog writing , I haven't changed my writing style yet and no need also ;) But this SMS language has really made the student's life horrible as of me also , because if we try to use the sms language then we are given zero marks for that answer and hence we are trained to write the sentence completely without any shortcuts. Thanks for writing about this topic Andrew :) We really explored something great today :) :)
          • Andrew says:
            Sunil, It's wierd - I didn't even think RT was text speak...but I guess it is. I don't think I'll be changing my blog writing style - not just yet anyway. Andrew
  9. ashok says:
    I'll say this - when in doubt, be formal. It can't hurt to give the impression that one is actually articulate, not just immersed in textspeak. You're exactly right about knowing one's audience, but I'd argue that knowing one's audience isn't some sure knowledge one has. I think my own, small audience has changed almost completely over the years. A few have stuck with me no matter what, but.
    • Andrew says:
      Ashok, I'm no-where near the stage where I could use text speak in my blog posts. I only know a few abbreviations and I'd come across like an 'old' guy trying to be cool and that's a no-no. Knowing your audience. I think you know them more that what you think. If you see regular commenters and new ones that come back again - you are doing the right things. Andrew
  10. Udi says:
    I actually think you're (slightly) mistaken. I remember in the past - more than a decade ago, using a lot of abbreviations while on IRC: do u want 2 meet l8r? that wld b gr8! But the years passed and I seemed to be seeing less and less of that, I assumed because people became faster typists so could afford to write the full sentences. In fact, when a friend of mine used this 2 years ago I thought "how quaint". But now, because of Twitter, I see this often. Someone commented that I'm one of the few people who chops tweets into multiple lines, that usually people try very hard to cram it all into one line using abbreviations.. Very interesting article!
    • Andrew says:
      Udi Sorry - what does this mean: "do u want 2 meet l8r? that wld b gr8!" Can you translate? Andrew P.S. oly kidin
      • Udi says:
        Hey Andrew. I knew you were kidding but sometimes I feel this way...
  11. Asad says:
    I loved this point in the article "Just Be Yourself".I think that we don't need to follow others.We should find our best in ourselves.
    • Andrew says:
      Asad, Agreed - but I think a lot of people see what others are doing and are successful as it - so try and copy them. Then it can come across as false. Andrew
  12. Murlu says:
    I find it funny how the web seems to come full circle from time to time. Back in the 90s, everyone would use leet speak or abbreviations in their names or talking but then it started to be more formal - now we're returning back to text speak. I think it facilitates the need to get information quicker. Kristi's right about blog posts but it does depend on the blogger and audience. I like blog posts to be longer and more in depth; not with abbreviations and text speak. However, on Twitter, I do want things to be short and to the point which is where text speak comes in handy. Get the info quicker so we can stay ahead of the curve.
    • Andrew says:
      Murlu, So it's a bit like fashion? I knew my Hawaiian shirts I kept from the late 70's would come back one day! Andrew
  13. DiTesco says:
    I agree with Kristi. Blogging should be more formal although an occasional, LOL, is OK in my opinion, specially when leaving or responding to comments. Obviously for Twitter, as Kristi also mentioned it is actually in most cases even recommendable so you can save as much space as you can and leave that room for ReTweets :)
    • Kristi Hines says:
      I always make sure (if possible) I save the extra 12 characters necessary to add a retweet with my username. Just in case. :)
      • Hesham says:
        That's a nice post Kristi!
      • Andrew says:
        Yep - so do I. I get a little annoyed when people don't and I try to RT and it's too long! Andrew
    • Andrew says:
      Totally agree DiTesco. But I do struggle to abbreviate in Twitter. Andrew
      • DiTesco says:
        I understand. I think that it is a general problem. I myself have a hard time trying to send a message under 130 characters or less :)
  14. Kristi Hines says:
    I think blog writing should be more formal. Granted, I throw in smileys. But things like the title of this post drew me in because I thought the site had an error - I'm not sure that text speak would be good for blogging or emails, but for Twitter, it's definitely a good thing to know so you can squeeze in your whole message in 140 characters.
    • Andrew says:
      Kristi, Did the title get your attention? Just curious. Or did you see the author and think I must read that! :) LOL Andrew

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