As an April Fool’s joke last week Twitter announced it was charging for vowels. This resulted in a barrage of vowel-less chitter. But did it really matter? We live in an world of abbreviation. Twitter has taught us to communicate in 140 characters. Text messaging forces us to shorten words. Businesses speak in acronyms.
Here is an example:
I have an MBA in marketing CPG. My boss needs a PPT report on my SKUS B4 EOD. But my AM is MIA 2day and his AA is OTL. I work my ass off to get the report finished and then find out that the boss will be taking some R&R for the next 6days and now has a DND on his email. I mentally say cr-p! – CU Next 2sday. GMAFB!
I love whole words and the way they roll off my tongue. As I write the manuscript for my book I deliberate my words and how they reflect what I want to say. I know the book will be in libraries and on bookshelves for a long time, so I want them to be meaningful.
I wonder if children today will ever appreciate the meaning of words when they live in a world of abbreviation. I remember taking penmanship, participating in spelling bees and writing essays. I wrote book reports from my reading assignments. The exercises inspired me to write. I think children should be assigned a blog to write in their own own voice to practice expressing themselves in more words than letters.
The late film critic Roger Ebert was a brilliant writer. When cancer stripped him of his ability to speak, it was the written word that carried his voice. He even transferred it masterfully to Twitter gaining a hefty following. Helen Keller, though blind and deaf used the written word to communicate to the world.
After spending my career putting words on paper for others to speak, it is in writing where I found my own voice. I tackle Twitter and its endless supply of acronyns but my ♥ lies with real words. To stay in touch with TwitChat I found this Twittcionary online: http://socialmediatoday.com/node/512987
Even better than writing words is learning to listen to them. With all the Tweets, Chitter, Face-offs and online sharing I wonder just how much of it is really registering. Everyone seems to be speaking out. But is anyone really listening? I am always grateful when someone responds to me when I write a blog post. So thank you readers! It’s good to know my voice is heard and shared.
Just remember that, no matter how you say them words are hard to take back. So choose them carefully in whatever format you use.
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. – Buddha
