Is Texting Ruining Our Writing Skills? Let’s Talk About It.
As an English teacher, I hear this a lot: “Is texting ruining students’ writing?”
Honestly? No, it’s not. But we do need to talk about the difference between texting and formal writing.
Texting is casual. It’s meant to be quick, and it’s often a little messy. You might text a friend,
“omg I’m sooo tired lol can’t even think rn 🥱”
and that’s totally fine.
That kind of writing fits the moment. It’s relaxed, it’s personal, and it’s fun.
No one cares about punctuation, sentence structure, or spelling.
But that same message doesn’t belong in a business message.
Imagine sending this text if you had to reschedule a business appointment:
“not feeling it rn lol too tired, maybe 2moro?”
Yikes. That’s where things get tricky.
Here’s the good news:
We are all smart enough to code-switch. The trick is to think carefully before you hit ‘send.’ We do it all the time in real life. We speak differently to our best friend than we would to a client or an acquaintance.
Instead of blaming texting for bad writing, let’s consider it a learning opportunity.
Remember that texting is one writing style, and academic or professional writing is another.
Texting is not the enemy.
It’s just a different tool.
I noticed, recently, that in my classes, my chat box was filling up with terribly-written messages. I have started playing a daily game called, “Write or Text” where the students will send me a message in the chat box based on whichever style I have requested. They have all, from middle schoolers to adults, caught on beautifully.
Let’s simply be mindful about when to be casual and when to be professional. We can do it.
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Liz Brenner
Everyone has a story to tell.
Even you.
Especially you.
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