Michael w6 wrote:
I suspect the text typing has much to do with age. I did not grow up with a Smartphone and still do not own one. So my encounters with text typing are mainly You Tube comments. The use of text talk makes the poster seem not serious, trying to be cool or considerably younger than me. I feel much the same way towards coworkers who suffix a statement with, "just sayin'." Likewise with "bro", "dude" and addressing a full adult with the inane quip, "young man."
If by "text typing" you mean the abbreviations and such of the current mode of
SMS Language (I only just discovered the term a few minutes ago), you might be surprised about age being a factor: it's also partly cultural. I know people in their forties who do it - even a lady in her seventies, now that I think of it! - and it has much to do with their social circles, interests, or simply buying into the form. Some of my siblings and in-laws - no spring chickens themselves - are way too free with the emojis and pre-formulated "like" entries, bless their Facebook-addled, pointy little heads. If they're doing it to feel younger, they should try a treadmill.
[EDIT] Here's an example of the inanity: Someone in my family just texted the lot of us asking if anyone could bring ice to the Christmas gathering, and I replied, "Sure." Then someone else replied to that with, "Liked 'Sure.'" They do this all the time in texts, "liking" things of little account in my book. It baffles me, and I will definitely take the opportunity to get an explanation straight from the horse's mouth later today.
As for things like YouTube comments, I think SMS language sets itself up to be ignored, or at least to be given little weight. It comes off as mere babble for mere babble's sake. Usually it's incoherent in any case, and that's sure not a matter of me having an inflexible mind; people who know me will attest that, between the ears, I get very bendy indeed.
I eventually got a smartphone, and I really like it because I can access the Internet if I need to - it's great for settling arguments, like debunking the myth that lice can jump, or whatever else your drinking buddies are blathering on about next - as well as texting, email, weather, calculator, flashlight, pitch pipe, taking photos (no selfies!), GPS when I've needed it, and - ironically - rarely phoning except to pay bills or to talk to my Luddite friends. That's really all I need, even if some think that's under-utilization of the resource. But I'm not a gamer, I don't access C&F by smartphone if I can help it, and having zero FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), I will gladly gnaw off my fingers before I use Facebook or Twitter. Once you tick 'em off, my relatively limited smartphone use doesn't seem so limited after all. It's kind of like a Swiss Army knife.
Just sayin', bro.
