Use of English

Digital Communication

Digital communication has (0) CHANGED the way people use language in everyday life. Messages sent by text or through social media are often written quickly, so users tend to leave (1) .......... punctuation or shorten words to save time. As a result, some people worry that young users will become too (2) .......... to informal writing and start using it in school or at work. However, others point (3) .......... that digital communication has simply created new styles for different situations. In the same way that people speak differently to friends and teachers, they also adjust their writing depending (4) .......... who they are communicating with. In fact, many users are perfectly capable of switching (5) .......... from casual online language to more formal English when necessary. Another interesting feature is the speed at which new words spread. Expressions can catch (6) .......... online in a matter of hours and soon become widely understood. Even so, language experts argue that this is not a sign of decline, but rather proof that language naturally grows and (7) .......... to social change. For this reason, digital communication should be seen as an influence on language, not a threat (8) .......... it.