Explore the view that texting and/or web-based interactions can be very creative forms of language use

As time goes on, everything that we do in life modernises alongside us. Many people hold the opinion that ‘old fashioned’ methods of language use were more caring and creative, and that modern technology allows us to simply be ‘lazy’. However by looking at examples of texting, and/or web-based interaction, I will be able to show that modern language use can too be very creative.

My conversation with Sophie starts with a text from myself saying ‘OMG YOULL NEVER GUESS WHAT I JUST HEARD!!!!! Xx’. A key factor of the creativity in this text conversation is the capitalisation. Capitalisation is used as a reflection of intonation and normally this could have been interpreted as a shout, and therefore an angry text message. However, in this case, the text message is taken as light – hearted, showing that Sophie and myself must share a friendship. As it is not an angry text, the capitalisation is taken as excitement, so from this we learn that whatever Sophie and me are discussing, I am clearly excited about. The ‘OMG’, which is in replace of ‘oh my goodness’ is used to exploit the limited space and is a much quicker way to type. By using the quickened version of the phrase, it shows that I cant wait to tell her what is coming and using the quickest way possible to give me all the information. Another word that has been quickened is ‘YOULL’ instead of using ‘YOU’LL’, again confirming that I was in a rush to share my exciting information, as I have not taken the time to worry about my punctuation. The multiple exclamation marks nearing towards the end of my texts are, again used to reflect intonation. In spoken English my voice would have more or less been high pitched, however over text messaging the only way to express this is by exclamation marks. Also, with using multiple of these, it increases the excitement of my story and just re-emphasizes how happy I am with the news I am about to tell Sophie. The ‘xx’ at the end finishes off my text, which exploits the limited space available and also reflects on the paralinguistic features. Essentially, what ‘xx’ conveys to the recipient, is that they have strong feelings towards the person and would be presenting these through actions, such as smiles throughout spoken English. By using two letters to show all of these thoughts and feelings both time and space are saved.

Sophie’s response to my text is ‘wut?!?! Xx’. This again features the use of space and a quicker response than the full world. With using a quicker response, it is a clear indication that Sophie is eager to fine out the news I am about to tell her and therefore proves I must be a good friend with Sophie as she is interested in what I have to tell her. If Sophie had just used the word ‘wut’ on its own, it might have came across that she was being irritating and the ‘t’ on the end of ‘wut’ sounds quite harsh. Therefore, to show her interest in the conversation she added two question marks and two exclamation marks, to show that she is excited and also curious. These were probably more than needed, but they have been used to ensure that she is interested in the conversation. She then ends this text with two kisses, to make sure that she returning her affection and that she is not simply asking a blunt question.

I then respond to Sophie message by saying ‘I overheard her telling charlotte!! Xx’. This text message clearly reflects the relationship between myself and Sophie as I refer to the girl I am talking about by using the term ‘her’, which shows that that I am certain Sophie knows who I am talking about without explaining it any further. It shows that just from using the word ‘her’, it suggests that we must have had a recent conversation, and again shows that we must be close friends.

Sophie responds to the text by saying ‘I knew she would!!
The emoticons play a major role in the creativity of this text as they also reflect on paralinguistic features. If the conversation would have took place in spoken English, then Sophie’s response and facial expression would have shown her being shocked and surprised. But seeing as this conversation is only over text, the only way to convey the shock or surprise is through the emoticon’s, which are now a very popular way of communicating through multi-modal talk. Also by using four of these pictures instead of just using one, it suggests that Sophie cant get over the shock of what has just happened. So this is a clear indication of how much the news I have just told means to Sophie.

My final text of the conversation is just a simple ‘ikr!!!!!’ this is a quick abbreviation of saying ‘I know, right?’ which exploit’s the use of limited space. It is used so that I can quickly respond the Sophie’s text to the excitement to my agreement. I finish this text with multiple exclamation marks, to show that we are on the same level of understanding with one another, without putting the exclamation marks the message may have been considered rude or blunt, as it is quite short.
The very final text of this conversation is from Sophie when she says ‘Cant believe it!!! G2G speak tomoz!!xx’. The ‘G2G’ is an abbreviation of the saying ‘got to go’, with Sophie shortening the word it clearly indicates that she is in a rush and again exploits the use of limited space and shows that she was trying to give me the information in the quickest way possible.

I think that texting, and/or web-based interactions can be very creative forms of language use because equal amounts of information can be discovered from simply words, rather than words and everything else that your body does whilst saying them; and after all words are how all language use began