Bottom Line: The web and the way we write on it is starting to bleed over into the “real world.” Teens the world over are starting to use informal styles of writing (like they use to send text messages) in more traditionally formal writings.

Not too surprising if you have spent any time on MySpace or chatting on instant messenger.

Teens generally do not believe that technology negatively influences the quality of their writing, but they do acknowledge that the informal styles of writing that mark the use of these text-based technologies for many teens do occasionally filter into their school work. Overall, nearly two-thirds of teens (64%) say they incorporate some informal styles from their text-based communications into their writing at school.

85% of teens ages 12-17 engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending email or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites.

60% of teens do not think of these electronic texts as “writing.”

50% of teens say they sometimes use informal writing styles instead of proper capitalization and punctuation in their school assignments;

38% say they have used text shortcuts in school work such as “LOL” (which stands for “laugh out loud”);

25% have used emoticons (symbols like smiley faces in school work.

(via Pew Research)