Texting as a second language

Here’s an interesting TED talk from linguist John McWhorter, who maintains that texting, far from being the English language killer that some say, is really a second language. McWhorter says that texting is more like actual speech transcribed than some attempt to bastardize written English. According to McWhorter, young people benefit from texting because it makes them bilingual. This could be a key point to remember for marketers and others who constantly try to determine what that all-important youth demographic is thinking.