Accept my sympathies. LOL.

IMO...

This is an interesting write-up on the proliferation of text abbreviation in everyday life. We've all seen the phone commercials that make light of the phenomenon, usually with an unhip parent, and laughed.

Truth is, every generation seems to develop a unique means of conveying thoughts. Mobile technology provides an easy platform in ours. All of a sudden, shorter seems to better... and I cannot say that it is a bad thing. Now, every major news network has a "text chat" feature for their top shows, presidential candidates tweet, you can choose your American Idol with a few keystrokes and even bully high school kids in under 160 characters.

Now, I'd love to claim that I have been down with this form of mobile communication, but I admit that I generally avoided it. After all, I reasoned, it is much easier to just call than start banging away on a minute keypad that probably doesn't have a QWERTY display anyway.

Ever since I started blogging on my BlackBerry, I have gravitated towards texting a bit more myself, and have discovered it is a very effective means of keeping in touch with my wards. Many have told me if they had to pick between a million minutes or an unlimited texting plan, they'd pick the latter without hesitation.

Texting used to be the exclusive plaything of teens, but that isn't the case anymore. Churches even run services based of text interactions, and it ain't only aimed at youth. Simply put, if it something your children or youth are into (and, if they have a cell phone, they most likely are), it is something parents and youth workers should understand, if not embrace. Do you know what "sexting" is? I bet my bottom dollar that your kids do.

In any case, ETATILT (enjoy the article that I linked to). Yeah, I made that up. And?

Picture courtesy of Alton via Wikimedia Commons