Texting: Textisms and EffectsTexting is one of the fastest growing containers of communication. According to Cellular Online, in the first three months of 2004 alone, 135 billion text messages were sent. The proof lies only in the numbers. With the explosion of texting, society is forced to keep pace with massive changes in communication. Not only does texting affect children's knowledge, but texting has also led to the development of a virtually new language, texting. Textisms are an intentional misspelling of words, any use of a shortened word or acronyms in text messages. Textisms differ significantly from the standard English language. Some researchers believe that textisms are harmful, but other researchers disagree and believe that textisms can be beneficial. In the academic journal UKLA, Beverly Plester, Clare Wood and Victoria Bell explore the issues with texting abbreviations affecting children in the study "Txt msg n school literacy: texting and knowing text abbreviations harm- children's literacy level? Joe Huber also identifies with the idea of ​​the effects of textism in the article “Texting As Language: Evolution or Regression?” Textisms are a new controversial issue that has attracted the interest of countless researchers and given rise to a number of studies and articles. Joe Huber addressed the issue of textisms in the article “Texting As Language: Evolution or Regression? Huber once again asserts that the use of textisms is not a new concept. Researchers have led many people to believe that textisms can negatively impact literacy, but Huber refers to 3400 BCE and the 1890s. By 3400 BCE, the Summerians were using a type of writing called cuneiform. This style of writing was heavily based on images, ...... middle of paper ...... amounts of information is knowledge. The more knowledge people have, the more power they have. The use of textual language is obviously not going to disappear any time soon, so society must adapt. Text messaging is one of the fastest growing communication mediums, and the company shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Only time will tell whether the effects of texting are positive or negative. Plester, Wood, and Bell have only scratched the surface in trying to determine whether texting is harmful or beneficial. Neil 6 Works Cited Huber, Joe. “SMS as a language: evolution or regression? Educator Studio. August 1, 2011. the web. November 11, 2011. Plester, Beverly, Clare Wood and Victoria Bell. "School Literacy Text Messaging: Do Texting and Knowing Text Abbreviations Negatively Affect Children's Literacy Levels?". » UKLA 42. Number 3 (2008): 137-144. Print.