Since the emergence of social media sites, like Xanga and MySpace, the world has become familiar with abbreviated speech in this generation’s vernavular. One word internet slang phrases, such as “LOL” and “haha” aren’t just used to let someone know they’re in the friendzone anymore, as they would eventually come to signal. From texting to tweeting, the way we communicate has certainly changed over the past decade.

A couple of Writing and Linguistics professors at Georgia Southern University share their thoughts on how they feel about this modern day lingo.

“I’ve never really had any students mistakenly incorporate the way they communicate with classwork or material,” Associate Professor Dr. Kathy Alberton said. “Technology’s advanced over the years, and I don’t think it has that much of an effect on how students work in school.”

It can be pretty hard to keep up with technology since it’s constantly advancing. The important thing is recognizing the line between formal and informal writing.

“There is a time and place for everything, and as long as students know when and where it’s appropriate to use internet slang and abbreviated speech, then I see no problem with this aspect of communication. It’s all about contextual distinction,” Christopher Smith, Writing and Linguistics lecturer, said.