Instant messages surprisingly formal  :-)

By Michael Schirber

updated 11:10 a.m. ET March 2, 2005

Take this with a wink and a LOL: IM is more formal than you might think. But hey, guys, your punctuation stinks.  :-)

Instant messaging (IM) is a relatively new form of communication, in which two people exchange typed messages instantaneously over the Internet. Although written, the fact that IM is more immediate and direct than e-mail makes it seem more like speech than writing.

But a recent study of IM-ing by college students found that the communication was more formal — in use of vocabulary and abbreviations — than might be expected in a speechlike medium. The research also uncovered significant differences in how men and women use the medium.

"The most important finding is that IM by college students does not look like bad writing," said Naomi Baron of American University.

Baron reviewed 23 different conversations and surveyed 158 students. When divided along gender lines, the messages between females were more formal — with fewer contractions and better punctuation — than those between males.

"The female IM looks more like a written genre, while the male IM looks more like a spoken genre," Baron told LiveScience in a telephone interview.

Overall, though, the messages surprised Baron with their level of linguistic sophistication — considering that IM gives the impression that it is something you do "as fast as you can," she said.

No fashion statement
There has been a recent interest in how teenagers use IM — infusing it with the newest lingo and emoticons — as in the ubiquitous smiley face :-).

"I had anticipated from what I had read in the popular press about teenagers that the students’ IM would be full of acronyms and abbreviations," Baron said.

Instead, she found in her sample that the writing was more "natural." Out of 11,718 words, there were only 31 abbreviations (mostly "k" for "OK"), 90 acronyms (mostly "LOL" for "laughing out loud"), and only 49 emoticons (mostly the smiley).

Baron presented her results last month at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She thinks the more writing-like style found in her data may be because the average college student — as opposed to the average teenager — is less concerned with appearing hip to his or her peers.

"Teenagers want to strut their language," Baron explained, whereas the typical young adult probably finds it takes too much effort to remember what the currently cool acronyms are, or how to make a particular emoticon.

There were also just 121 misspelled words. "I will have more misspellings in the papers my students turn into me," Baron said. "And you have to remember there is no spell check on IM."

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