New Zealand metadata specialist Keedup says txtese—or chatspeak, txtspk, txtk and numerous other slang abbreviations that denote the language used to compose text messages—is the language to keep in mind as the general population increasingly migrates routine tasks to mobile devices.
Keedup has begun offering txtese versions of its popular keywording vocabularies. According to chief executive Kevin Townsend, the seemingly unstoppable text language may be annoying—but largely to those older than 35. Townsend cautions keyworders and photolibraries: “[You] do not have the luxury of ignoring a form of English which has now crossed from the mobile phone into general language.”
The objective of txtese is to use the fewest number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message. For Generation Y adults, who are using the Internet more and more, says Townsend, “gr8” for “great” or “bZ” for “busy” is as valid a form of communication as French or German.
While it is hard to quantify how many people use txtese to search the Internet or image libraries, Townsend—and U.S. researchers such as linguist David Crystal, who has authored a study on the cultural phenomena—estimates the numbers are in the 10% to 20% range. He also points out that the abbreviated language form is not entirely new; a variation thereof was first introduced by the telegraph.