Internet 2020

Reading an article on The New York Times citing a research by Pew Internet. One expert's observation is extremely agreeable:

"When I was a boy, homework consisted of writing a paragraph. Now, youth writing paragraphs in a blink of an eye. They are mastering language only to reinvent it. They are using it in new forms. Tags. Labels. Acronyms. And the game becomes a written game of who can use written word most effectively. Reading, writing, and communicating will become much more fluid as youth are more engaged in the practice of these skills, and have a greater motivation to practice their skills." - Robert Cannon, senior counsel for internet law at Federal Communications Commission

As a student, I, too, used to wonder why we were penalised for using short forms. Why do teachers insist on spelling out long, frequently used, insignificant words like "walau bagaimanapun", "dengan", "demikian" (all my subjects in school, except English of course, were in Malay) when much time and energy can be saved and channeled towards better and deeper thinking that yields more insightful and creative arguments for the essay?

Especially for quick-witted, smart students whose thoughts move faster than their fingers, a great idea may have come and gone in the minutes spent spelling out those excruciatingly long pointless words. Can't deny that I've had some of those frustrating moments myself :P

So finally, in the age of the Internet, some people agree that the purpose of the word is to communicate, and if an abbreviation communicates well enough, so be it. Leave the spelling to English majors (still, I'd really like to study English literature and read the classics, but that's quite a different use of the English alphabet).