Why can't you "txtspeak" on fluther?

Because it’s all kinds of annoying.

Because it is a bad thing.

Because you couldn’t possibly take it seriously and hence never get decent conversations/debates going.
And, you have a keyboard or pad with all necessary letters, so use them.

Its stupid, annoying, and obnoxious. Smilies are fine, in my book, but textspeak will ALWAYS make me believe that you’re a complete idiot. I also tend to find that those beliefs aren’t so far from the truth.

I’ve found that educated individuals tend to shy away from it…. too.

well i still think txtspeak is straight…

Textspeak is not gay?

I had no idea! I just thought… with those flashy pink spandex outfits… OH HOW MY PERCEPTIONS HAVE CHANGED!

I have seen the light!

not as in gay..
as in its okay

@Mdgeo_09: nope, just mad at your parents and teachers…

lol
sndfreQ ur funny… that would b a lol moment

Main reasons:

1) It makes searching the site completely useless (robots don’t understand “txtspk”).
2) It would stop the related questions function from working properly.
3) The site wouldn’t appear in Google search results for relevant questions.
4) It looks plain stupid.

richardhenry i think # 2 nd 3 make sense but… durin comment u should b able 2… b/c every1 can understand it

“Durnin comment u should b able” what? Can you rephrase please?

edit: Oh, during comments. I don’t think so, no. I find it harder to read, the flow is broken. Is typing really so hard? If you’re planning on influencing a change in guidelines, it’s not going to happen.

I forgot to mention a good morning to everyone! [and afternoon RH :) ] or, translated?! “gd am 2 u all”...yawns

Well, to quote our founding jellyfish:

“Fluther is a collective of people sharing answers, insights, and advice. Please respect the time and energy of the people in the community.

Browsing the site is the easiest way to get a sense of our culture and of what kinds of questions and answers are appropriate.

Well-written, genuine questions provoke the best and most thoughtful answers.”

By the way, if you feel you need to chat with users, you have a wonderful space where you can receive instant feedback; it’s called the chat room

during answerin the question.. txtspeak is straight (as in ok)

Good morning to sndfreQ and those on the other side of the pond. You like Fluther with your coffee? :)

i got flagged, how RUDE

@Mdgeo_09: Can I ask, why is your first question on Fluther essentially a protest?

Good evening, mods! Well…. good morning…

if you look at wat the Thesilvertiger he wrote “idk lol” nd they took it off…
all he was trying to say is that he/she doesnt know and that it was funny…
and he wrote that in 2 words.. why would they take that off???

It doesn’t match up with the style guidelines and it doesn’t contribute to the conversation.

richardhenry im not tryin 2 make it a protest… im just being 4real… that is how i type

richardhenry- i asked another question about ringtones but the fluther people took it off

Bsilver hurry..
im leavin

Speaking in “txtspeak” to me displays two characteristics in a person, a severe lack of intelligence, and laziness. It has already been stated, you have a full keyboard to utilize, take the extra 2 seconds it takes to type out “I don’t know” as opposed to “idk”

Using 2 for too or to, 4 for for, u for you, is just plain annoying. Stop doing it, when you joined the site, you agreed to the guidelines set forth, you’re obligated to follow them, textspeak violates the guidelines, therefore, don’t do it.

[Fluther Moderator:] Mdgeo_09 and Thesilvertiger, If you continue to sign in on multiple accounts and give yourself ‘great answer’ awards you will be banned for gaming the points system. Hope you understand. I originally sent you this in a PM, but you have ignored it so I’m reposting here.

How very eloquent, fellow flutherites, welcome back to kindergarten.

And your telling me to “hurry up” while crafting my response, also inappropriate.

[Fluther Moderator]: hello all: please refrain from personal attacks. If you need to chat, please use the aforementioned chat room for this purpose.

This is a bit out of hand.
As someone who has both a deeply rooted love of fluther and the English language, I am personally offended by “txtspeak” in use on fluther, instant messages, text messages, emails, and the like. It disgusts me. If this is the future of language, I’m moving to space.
In addition, this is an unfortunate discussion that has made both sides look bad, but especially the textspeak advocates because they looked bad from the get-go.
See you all in a more refined discussion, please.

Learn to speak well, to write with clarity and precision, and develop the patience and interest to read.

Only good will come of it. You may not understand now, but you will later.

mdgeo; Go on (or back to myspace) if you want to do your “txt spk”. Ok? Thanks.

Txtspeak has a place, but it’s in phones and not the internet. When you text me, I’d rather it be shorter because a 176×220 screen isn’t good for reading paragraphs and typing in T9 is a pain in the butt. So in that case, txtspeak is reasonable.

But when you’re sitting at the computer, with a full keyboard in front of you and obviously enough time to be on the computer, there shouldn’t be an excuse as to why a person can’t create a reasonably good quality post/response. How a person talks and types is a way of expressing who a person is, and on the internet, it’s the only way we can get a glimpse of who you are, so it’s even more important that you come across clearly and hopefully intelligently.

When a person types on the internet in txtspeak, it says to me “I’m typing like this because I don’t have the respect for my own thoughts and feelings to take the time to properly write it all out. This text does not mean enough to me to be worth communicating clearly. I don’t take myself seriously, and you shouldn’t take me seriously either.”

So I don’t. I would much rather have a person who might not be a great writer, try to communicate it as effectively as they can, even if it’s riddled with spelling errors and punctuation errors; because even if they don’t have the education to do it, they care enough to make a serious effort and I think that’s awesome; however, txtspeak when it’s not necessary only makes me think a person is an idiot, lazy, or likely both.

sinscriven, you should also post this in the other Q about txtspeak. Its perfect.

It really is. Please do repost.

<—————applauds @sinscriven. ENCORE!!! Well put, my friend.

@delirium, richard, spendy: wow, thank you! I would, but im not sure where that other question is.