Abbreviations, Slang, and Other Shortcuts

Communication is a very essential tool for any group to share ideas, concerns, requests and many other things. A very key component to communication is having a language that is universal among everybody speaking it so that everybody understands each other. What I see happening more and more is people coming up with slang or weird acronyms and abbreviations that they expect everyone to know. This brings up the question, are we becoming more efficient communicators or lazier ones?

When I got hit with my first "lol", I had absolutely no clue what that meant. Then it started popping up everywhere until somebody finally explained to me it's meaning. Then came brb, lmao, fml, and all kinds of shortcuts to combine three or more words in one tiny acronym. Another thing that I'm sure would boggle the minds of some would be when we say something is "sick". When something is "sick" it can either be horrible or incredible depending on the context. We have a whole bunch of slang or terminology that can mean more than one thing, causing a lot of confusion.

So when the question is asked if we are becoming more efficient or lazy communicators, I would have to say that we are becoming lazier. The language is becoming less universal and this means that you have to stay up to date on the newest slang to stay in the communication loop.

Lets Blog About IS 215

In this weeks blog, i am going to focus on Communication. Communication is commonly defined as the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs according to the dictonary.

The first form of communication that people used to exchange thoughts, opinions, and information were signs and symbols. Writing was another major way of communication.

When the alphabet was created, it made it much more easier for people to communicate. It help develop language for the people.

To learn more about communication, you can visit this website:

Communication UPGRADE.!!!!

Communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. Communication plays a MAJOR role in today's society. Weather it's the alarm clock waking you up in the morning, your new born baby crying because he/she needs their diaper changed, or the Jehovah witnesses knocking at your door on an early saturday morning demanding your attention, if you think about it, it's definitely communication!!!

Considering the fact that I was born in the 90's, it's only fair I talk about personal experiences I've encountered with communication devices. When I was five or six, my mom bought me a pager (don't laugh) for my birthday. This was for emergency purposes. Now that I've gotten older and have really thought about things, giving me a pager wasn't really the smartest thing to do. Whose to say the page was really going to get delivered fast enough in an actual "emergency"? And if my mom had paged me 911, how was I going to return her page if I wasn't at home?

My first social networking page was on Blackplanet.com. No one really had profile pictures because scanners were not "in" like that. This was a good way to chat with my school friends after school or during computer class (hoping not to get caught by the teacher). Rating's on Blackplanet started rising after members were allowed to customize backgrounds, add music videos, pictures, and animations to make profiles unique. Then I was forced to deactivate my page because I started receiveing messages from pedophiles.

Those two types of communication were the most importantto me because, now, today, in 2010, if you're still utilizing these, you're viewed as being wierd or old school. Today we have cell phones, which plays a major part because it's the most domonate source of communication used. If you don't have a cell phone, let along an "up to date" cell phone, why? how do reach people in case of emergencies? Do you actually talk on the house phone? Blackplanet still has great numbers of ratings, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter have taken over. Facebook is operating in more than 30 countries. Although media claims these social sites to be dangerous, I highly encourage them because it's a great way to keep in touch with old class mates, friends, family, and current events.

So what's your communication Upgrade???

Email vs. texting

Today in class, we started to learn about communication and how we communicate effectively with one another. We discussed all of the different possibilites such as face to face, email, text messages, telephone. and so on. In todays society people are all about technology. Whether it be business related or personal, communicating through text messages are growing rapidly.

Before there was such thing as texting, people communicated over the internet through the e-mail system. They still do, but I think e-mailing is becoming less and less popular as society learns about all the new things that keep coming out in the technological world. People are getting e-mail on their cell phones which is good to have, that way in case they don't have access to a computer, they can just hop on their cell phones and recieve e-mail. But what about the people who don't get e-mail on their phones? Texting is a very simple and easy way of communicating without actually speaking with the person. When a text message is sent, it goes directly to the recievers cell phone and they can view it right away. When an e-mail is sent, it doesn't go directly to that person; it goes to their inbox. They have to log onto their email and open up the message rather than just click view on their phone or have it pop right up. If you are just looking for a quick response, texting is usually the way to go. Not all people have text messages, but it has been a growing trend and more and more people are joining the 'texting' world. Another point to go along with e-mails is that sometimes, if people don't check their account frequently enough, the sender could go days or weeks or however long it takes the person to check it, without getting a response. If you send a text, there is usually a better chance of getting a quicker reply.

People also use texting just to inform somebody whatever it may be that they want that person to know or if they just have a simple queston. It's alot quicker than calling them and having a conversation, when you can just send them a message and have them respond without all the extra talking. Texting also comes into use when it is not a good time to be on the phone or if it's a situation where you can't really call someone. Such as if your at work and just need to find out something at the moment and you can't call them-just send a quick text or if your in the movies, you can't really talk on the phone. and so on. My point is that texting is alot easier to use than the email system. Its almost always handy and it is alot quicker and more efficient for the user.