Text messaging language: A comparison of undergraduates’ naturalistic textism use in four consecutive cohorts

Text messaging is by now a ubiquitous form of computer-mediated communication, especially among university students. An increasing body of research has examined the written language used in text messaging, but little or no data exist regarding how the use of non-conventional spellings, or ‘textisms’, may change over time as people adapt their written language to fit with advances in communication technology. This study reports on naturalistic messages gathered in four consecutive years from four cohorts of Australian first-year undergraduates. Textism use (in particular, ‘contractives’ such as for ) decreased during this time period, in step with the use of newer text-entry systems (e.g., predictive software). Compared to males, females used significantly more textisms in general, and more expressive textisms (letters added for expressive intent, such as for ) in particular. Overall, our results suggest that textism use may continue to decrease as abbreviated language loses its practicality in a landscape of improved technology.