FYI PPL: Understanding the Communication Styles of Teens

September 2nd, 2009 • 2 comments Behaviors, Teenagers
Tags: Uncategorized

The other day, I received the following IM from my 14 year-old niece: “So, wats up? How ru? Gtg … mom is callin me. C ya l8r k? Byee.” (Translation? “So, what’s up? How are you? Got to go! Mom’s calling me. See you later, OK? Bye.”) To say that I’m concerned about my niece’s academic future — based on her communications skills — is an understatement. Recent research, however, has reassured me that while teens are heavily embedded in a tech-rich world and craft a significant amount of electronic text, they see a fundamental distinction between their electronic social communications and the more formal writing they do for school or for personal reasons.

According to a Pew Internet Project study , teenagers are utilitarian in their approach to technology and writing, using both computers and longhand depending on circumstances. Their use of computers for school and personal writing is often tied to the convenience of being able to edit easily. And while they do not think their use of computers or their text-based communications with friends influences their formal writing, many do admit that the informal styles that characterize their e-communications do occasionally bleed into their schoolwork.

• 57% of teens say they revise and edit more when they write using a computer.
• 63% of teens say using computers to write makes no difference in the quality of the writing they produce.
• 73% of teens say their personal electronic communications (email, IM, text messaging) have no impact on the writing they do for school, and 77% said they have no impact on the writing they do for themselves.
• 64% of teens admit that they incorporate, often accidentally, at least some informal writing styles used in personal electronic communication into their writing for school. (Some 25% have used emoticons in their school writing; 50% have used informal punctuation and grammar; 38% have used text shortcuts such as “LOL” meaning “laugh out loud.”)

All of this matters more than ever because teenagers and their parents uniformly believe that good writing is a bedrock for future success. Eight in ten parents believe that good writing skills are more important now than they were 20 years ago, and 86% of teens believe that good writing ability is an important component of guaranteeing success later in life.

So, next time I receive an IM from my niece, I can be assured that her informal writing style is not indicative of her future academic success. OMG, I <3 that.