Merging Media and the Market

“WTF”

“and you can quote me on that”

Instant messaging has become a huge activity of teenager over the past decade.  As such, a whole new dialect has entailed the instant messaging craze.  Shorthand like: OMG “Oh my god”, BFF “best friends forever”, and BRB “Be right back” are heavily relied upon by heavily users of instant messaging.  The problem is that the IMers are growing-up, getting jobs, and using this IM speak in professional communications.  I couldn’t believe my ears when I read a report about how IM speak is being used by the younger generations in business communications. 

I mean really – do these people have no common sense or professionalism at all.  Teachers should be nipping this bad-habit in the bud in junior high and high school.  I think this post will be the only times that I will actually be able to get away with using IM speak in correspondence, and it’s simply to make a point.  Do these people just not realize how unprofessional and uneducated they sound when they speak and write like this.  Every company that I have ever worked for insisted that even company acronyms were not used in professional communications because they are easily lost in translation in regards to new employees, other businesses, and consumers.  

How does 4649 equal “please to meet you”?  Being a Gen X’er, you’d think I’d be some what up on the IM lingo.  But unfortunately for me, I went to this wonderful think called school, where I was taught to speak like a human and not a moron.  I guess I was wrong in assuming this whole “school thing” is available to the younger generations.  Or maybe schools just added IM speak to the curriculum.  And alluding to a quote from a previous post, I have the luxury or criticizing the younger generations because I have yet to raise any of them. 

Well my attempts to use IM speak in this post was truly pathetic, and I’m surprisingly OK with that.  On a personal level, I find this ‘speak’ to be obnoxious.  However, it is also apparent that this dialect is a huge aspect of reaching the younger generations.  Marketers are using this ‘speak’ in several of their new and traditional marketing efforts alike if they are targeting teenagers.  As such, learning IM speak seems to be another one of those necessary evils of my career choice.  So if you’re as IM speak dysfunctional as I am, read up on teen talk and the ever evolving list of digital lingo: especially if you’re a parent. 

Ultimately, IM Speak has its time and place.  But I think the collectively this speak should be limited to certain occassions and applications.  If you’re marketing to teenagers, or teenagers are instant messaging on their personal applications – IM Away.  However, the existance of this shorthand shouldn’t mean that it appears in business communications or any other type of formal correspondance.  On a cultural whole, technology has enabled us to save time by revolutionizing the way we communicate through  new media.  Since communication is now easier and more accessable than ever we should at least have the time to speak to one another in English. 

CUL8R,

Arin