Text A Crazy Instant Messaging Think fast! Translate this conversation into formal English. “Wass∧?”“N2M, U?”“JC”“G2G. BFN”. Confused? Your dictionary won't help you, but our word list will (See the instant messaging Glossary on Page 6). If you understood it right away, you are probably among the 60% of children online who use instant messaging, or IM. Yahoo, MSN and AOL offer software that allows users to have real-time conversation in text windows online. Instant messaging are typed so fast that users don't slow down to change into capital letters, add punctuation, or write complete words. As a result, new word abbreviations and IM slang are being made up faster than a high-speed modem. Keyboard Nation A typical instant-messaging conversation lasts more than a half hour, includes three or more friends and often includes friends from different places. More than one in three IM users say they use it every day. Nearly half online teenagers believe that the Internet has improved their friendships. It is a quick, easy way to keep in touch. Twelve-year-old Gabbi Lewin said that she's on instant messenger almost every day. She said that without it, “There would be no way to communicate. Our parents are on the pone all the time.” Thirteen-year-old Steven Mintz like messaging better than the phone “because I can talk to more people at once.” Chatting online is also a good way to keep up with friends who live far away. Children don't have to worry about the phone bill. Wrong message? Instant messaging does not always help develop a friendship. Sometimes, children use it to show angry feelings. Such children aren't really trying to be mean. Often it's just easier to say something online than in person. Eleven-year-old Oliver Davies says,“I can exp ress my feelings more easily with IM, without the guilty feeling of saying it face-to-face.” Many parents and teachers think children's Instant messaging habits are taking their attention away from more important things. Julia Long says that when her son Taylor, 13,“is waiting for a beep, it's hard (for him) to stay focused on homework or any kind of family activity.” Teachers get upset when Internet slang and emoticons (faces made with punctuation marks) appear in children's writing. Words that have troubled young writers, including“its”and“it's”now have been joined by“u,“ “r“and“wuz”. Children's safety may also be a problem. Staying connected is fine, but an online friendship with a stranger is not. Many parents monitor instant messaging, either by limiting time online or by keeping the computer in a common area. IM Not So Bad Researchers who study children and the Internet say instant messaging isn't getting in the way of real life. They note that new technology often produces old fears.“It's similar to what was said in the 1980s about video games and in the 1960s about television. There was this worry that children would do nothing else.” Even parents and teachers who don't like IM have to admit that at least children are writing. And their typing skills are improving. Is it at the expense of proper English?“Not so long as they learn the difference between formal and conversational English,”says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics. “Language has always changed, and it always will,”says Baron.“It must change as the things we do and the things we meet change.” That's good news! G2G. L8R. According to Text A: A typical instant-messaging conversation lasts ________.