Text speak is a combination of reduced punctuation, phonetic spelling, leaving out vowels and replacing some vowel sounds with digits. It works similarly to shorthand.

Net speak, in contrast, is a older more formal set of acronyms considered acceptable in newsgroup postings, e.g. IIRC: if I recall correctly.

Text speak is usually interspersed with idiosyncratic phonetic spelling with no or almost no punctuation. People just learning English often pick up the text speak habit making their posts doubly incomprehensible.

Though text speak is faster to type, it is harder or even impossible to read. Since newgroup postings have many more readers than posters, and since the readers are the general public not personal friends familiar with text speak, I consider the use of text speak on newsgroups both inconsiderate. Don’t do it. It is even more problematic for people whose first language is not English. You will get jumped on by angry readers. Many will instantly put you in their killfiles.

Using text speak in a public forum, especially all lower case without punctuation, and chaotic phonetic spelling, says to your readers, “Fuck you. My time is infinitely more valuable than yours. All that matters in the universe is my convenience and saving my time, no matter how badly it inconveniences you.” It also says “I am a lazy slob. If you ever were foolish enough to hire or contract me I would do the sloppiest work I could get away with.” It also says “I don’t care about quality work. There is not much point in teaching me the fine points because I don’t give a shit.”

Think of posting as like getting a letter published in the newspaper. You want to make it accessible to all reader by using accurate grammar and spelling.

Text speak can be excused when you have only a toy keyboard and you have only one text-speak literate recipient.

I wish there were such as thing as stage fright to whip people into taking care with grammar and spelling in posts. You would not speak in hip hop slang addressing a public meeting. A newsgroup is like a public meeting. Stick to formal, accurate English if you want to be taken seriously.

Logic aside, if you use text speak in newsgroups you will get the backs up of a considering number of the people reading your post. They will consider your post as disrespectful, even if you pepper it with just a few words of net speak. Some will refuse to read your posts. Others will be furious and will berate you mercilessly. Make sure annoying them is what you intended.

TextSpeak also refers to a proprietary text to speech scheme.

Books

	recommend book⇒A Glossary of Net speak and Text speak
		paperback
	ISBN10:	0-7486-1982-8
	ISBN13:	978-0-7486-1982-5
	publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
	published:	2004-09-29
	by:	David Crystal
Internet and cell phone jargon.
amazon.ca amazon.com chapters.indigo.ca powells.com amazon.fr barnesandnoble.com amazon.de amazon.co.uk