Technology and Language

I think it's a little naive to think that technology is degrading the English language. The new 'techspeak' created by technology is merely a change in our language, just the same as all other changes in language over the course of history. If language never changed we would all still be using Old English, and we would never be able to expand our language to include new vocabulary.

Even though informal writing is common in 'techspeak', writers are still able to identify who their audience is. Just because someone sends a friend an informal text message does not mean he will use the same language when writing a research paper. As long as writers are still able to separate formal and informal writing depending on the audience, I see no reason why technology should be viewed as detrimental to the English language.