Netspeak and ASDs

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I recently finished reading Language and the Internet by David Crystal. I found it fascinating in general, but what was particularly interesting was the information about what he calls "Netspeak" (mainly abbreviations such as LOL or BRB). It is repeated throughout the book how amazing it is that people adapted so quickly to the new technology with its various linguistic opportunities and limits. (At the time of writing, the Internet was quite new.) This got me thinking about how people with ASDs might have reacted to the changes. Now, I am quite young, and have basically grown up with the Internet, but I have still had trouble getting used to certain aspects of it, because technology changes so fast, and so does language. My obsession with language helps me, to some extent, to accept linguistic changes, and I was also wondering if perhaps other people's obsessions have helped them cope with change, especially since computers are a common interest. So I was wondering if maybe some of you (including young members) could comment on this subect. If you had to get used to the internet, how did you cope? How do you all feel about Netspeak? Do your obsessions help?

Last edited by pigeon309 on 01 Feb 2010, 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm always seeing new abbreviations I don't understand, but more often than not a quick Google sorts that out.

I'm generally fine with it, though.

I'm not really sure how to vote on this one...

I do adapt quickly, as in, I figure out what things mean right away (when people don't ignore me)...but Netspeak on a whole, I find rather annoying. Not only does it contribute greatly to illiteracy, but I'm just generally sick of seeing a lot of it ("fail", "FTW", and "QFT" being my top annoyances currently).

On the topic of Netspeak I am one of the more conservative people on the internet. But my first steps on Internet were on strongly moderated email lists (Listservs); they had strong rules about posting formats and word usage.

But the language is easy to pick up, using google etc. Reading between the lines is more important!

I agree it contributes to illiteracy, its sickeningly annoying and IMHO most of it is quite childish - but, as in the usage in this sentence, some of it can be quite handy in abbreviating thoughts for quicker transmission. That having been said, I've always been kind of a pop culture sponge, so I pick most of it up and regurgitate it (pun intended) without a second thought.

Still, HD monitor screens, laptops and kindles are no substitute for an actual book.

Oh, and FTW, btw (unless its been recently ascribed some new interpretation I haven't yet heard) predates the Internet by decades - its an old outlaw biker tattoo acronym. That, however, makes it no less illiterate and annoying.

I didn't own a computer or see the internet until 1998, but I have adapted to it just fine. The only thing is, I do NOT do "netspeak." I will type in proper English until I die, no matter what. I don't do emoticons, either. My words mean exactly what they say. I don't need a smiley face at the end of a sentence to imply or infer any other meaning; I think it looks stupid. I don't understand how to decipher the things some people put at the end of sentences, like XD. Is that an abbreviation, or what?

As far as I know, XD is like a text smiley; look at it sideways and you'll see what I mean.

Anyone who invented the e-book is an idiot. Screens don't read like books. On screens, white makes my eyes hurt, on books, it makes it easier to read. But to me the internet changes ever so slowly, I haven't really noticed a change in the actual internet, only in the computers. [tangent]My grandfather used to be a programmer, before he died, and he had to print out code to check, because the computer took up an entire room. I thought it was pretty cool.[/tangent]

Yup, internet FTW has a totally different meaning than outlaw FTW:
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/blo ... tisFTW.htm

My internetz r strong n my lulz r epic.

I get really sick of words like "epic", "fail" or "owned."
People then start using these words offline.

I do sometimes use these words on a chatroom or forum, but besides that I do not do netspeak.

I like "fail." It usually accompanies a picture that makes me laugh.

I turned against those type of pictures since I was a de-motivate picture with an autistic child.

I also just hate the way everyone talks like that now. It's like they have no life outside the internet. I'm talking about my 20-something peers and don't mean to offend.

It's very annoying when someone talks like that in real life, it doesn't have the same "feel" to it as when it's used in it's natural context and it just makes them sound stupid.

Evidence?

omg imo this topic iz lolz XD

Netspeak can be irritating but sometimes I use it if I'm too lazy to type out a word. It's completely harmless if you use it in the correct situations.