This shift in messaging trend is seen not only because of the change in mindset of teenagers about the 'sms lingo', but also, due to the fear of losing touch with proper usage of English.
Besides, with teachers being vigilant about spellings in English papers has made the younger generation to switch for ‘clean English’.
Hitha Gujjar, a degree student says that even though she still uses words like ‘cool’ and ‘chill’ in her messages, she has made it a habit to use neatly framed grammatically correct sentences. “I prefer typing full sentences as my teachers have warned to cut marks if they found sms language in our answer papers. I am glad that it has helped me to improve my English.”
“I use the T9 mode when texting. My friends correct me when I make spelling or grammatical mistakes and it has helped me to hone my language skills,” declares Madhavi S, another student.
These the mobile service providers are offering more number of free messages than they used to. Initially, when the sms costs were soaring high, people used shorter characters with no punctuations to say all in one message. “It was quite a challenge back then. People had to cleverly choose words, preferably smaller, to convey what they wanted in 120-character long message. It saved their money,” said Geetha, a mother of a teenager.
But Anirudh, a commerce student is happy that he can type long messages without worrying about the currency. He said he uses colloquial English to express himself.
CS Bhagya, who is a student of literature feels that her style of texting came to her naturally. “I enjoy the language. I don't see why I should cut sentences. I suppose it's a question of respecting the language you use. One can imagine what may happen in the near future, if everyone resorts to sms lingo. We'll slowly lose our mastery over how we use language,” she said.
Identity
However, lazy and wannabe they are, some students feel that one’s style of messaging reflects their personality. “Texting is a way to communicate with people quickly. It is called short messaging service for the same reason. I am all for proper English in messages, but wasting too much precious time over a small message doesn't make sense,” observed Chaitanya Hegde, an engineering student.
“Our identities over SMS or online is governed by our words, how and what we comment. So if you use broken words or sentences, it says one thing about you, and if your message is grammatically correct, it says a whole other thing. It is all about how you want to be perceived,” said CS Bhagya.