An Exploration of Texting Habits Across Generations

Photo by Nate Smith on Unsplash

Does one's generation affect how they text?

Do habits of grammar, spelling, and punctuation change based on the generation of the person sending the text messages?

Survey: https://forms.gle/m8HG6EJxNeGWKR699

About the Researcher

Ruby Knickerbocker

knickrub000@stu.sumnersd.org

Class of 2021

I am a Bonney Lake AP Research student who wants to learn more about our use of technology. I have noticed that the way myself and my peers text is drastically different than how people of my parents' age text, and the differences in messages often lead to misunderstandings and confusion about the tone of the message.

Problem Statement

There is a problem with the communication made between people of different generations over text messages. Despite widespread access to smartphones and texting, miscommunications between texters of different ages still occur. This makes conveying intent and emotion through texts to people older or younger difficult and leads to miscommunication. A potential cause of this is differing dialects of generations due to how long they’ve been engrossed in technology. A study on the different spelling, grammar, and punctuation habits over text messages by different age groups might help us understand and fix this ‘language gap’.

Significance and Value of Study

Gathering data about the differences in how different generations send text messages could 1) help minimize miscommunications between texters of different ages by helping them understand what others mean, and 2) help us understand how use of the English language has changed with the development of technology--specifically, instant messaging.

Definitions & Measurements

The three factors that will be taken into account in the sample messages are grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They are operationally defined as follows:

Grammar: the measure of how many syntax and grammatical errors are made in a given text message.

Spelling: the measure of how words in text messages are not spelled in their correct, English dictionary spelling.

Punctuation: the measure of how many punctuation errors, such as missing punctuation, unnecessary commas, etc. are used in a given text message.

Method of Inquiry

A survey will be used to collect data through multiple choice questions that ask participants to rate how likely they are to send a given text on a scale of 1 to 5. This allows for quantitative data to be collected on how likely people of different generations would be to use certain spelling, grammar, and punctuation habits in their messages.

Limitations

It is very important that personal data of participants is not recorded. Therefore, the data collection cannot be done over text message, where phone numbers could be collected and recorded. Instead, sample text messages will be provided in an anonymous survey, which will not collect participants' personal information.

Another factor in text message tone is the use of emojis or emoticons. However, the scale of this study limits me to fewer variables, so the use of emojis and emoticons will not be considered in this project. In addition, text-to-speech functions will not be used in this study.

Results & Findings

Three main conclusions were made from the data collected. They are as follows:

Regardless of generation, the majority of texters send moderately correct text messages -- not perfectly correct nor very incorrect.
Generation Z is the most likely to misuse punctuation, spelling, and grammar.
Generation Z sends the least technically correct text message of the four generations studied.

Conclusions / Solutions

The results suggest that text messaging is changing the way people use the English language, and the development of text messaging influences our spelling, punctuation, and grammar skills.

Next Steps

Repeat the study with a larger participant pool
Study whether language skills are suffering in a written setting as opposed to a digital one
Research what the purpose of poorer grammar, spelling, and punctuation habits in texting are

Key Sources:

Colman, R., & Colman, A. (2006). Culture & Subcultures. Youth Studies Australia, 25(1), 4.
Tuttle, E. Carlene (2015). The Past, Present, and Future of the English Language: How Has the English Language Changed and What Effects Are Going to Come as a Result of Texting? Indiana State University.
Walters, M., & Fehring, H. (2009). An investigation of the incorporation of Information and Communication Technology and thinking skills with Year 1 and 2 students. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 32(3), 258.

Report abuse