The Decline of Formal Writing in the Age of Chat Applications

Abstract

With the emergence of the instant digital communication systems, everything is different in the way people write, and so is the case with us, older children who have already experienced the smartphone era. Language evolves with society, however, what we are experiencing with chat apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, and Instagram is not a mere shift to language. It rewrites the entire cultural framework of how we conduct our communication, in written form. The essay is discussing that speed, convenience, and that just-because-quick emotional shorthand is replacing the old rules of appropriate sentences, grammar, punctuations and reflective thought. Socio-linguistically, I am examining the ways in which this informal and chat-based writing alters the way we think, share emotions and even our literacy in general. Surely, this change is not entirely negative, but it does make us wonder whether our present communication behaviour can be called progressive or it is simply wearing something priceless.