Texting: Textisms and effectsTexts are one of the fastest growing containers of communication. According to Cellular Online, 135 billion text messages were sent in the first three months of 2004 alone. The proof is only in the numbers. With the explosion of SMS, society is forced to keep up with the enormous amount of changes in communication. Not only does SMS influence children's knowledge, but it has also led to the development of a practically new language, textisms. Texts are intentional misspellings of words, any use of a shortened word or acronyms in text messages. The lyrics differ significantly from standard English. Some researchers believe that textisms are harmful, but other researchers disagree and believe that textisms can be beneficial. In the academic journal UKLA, Beverly Plester, Clare Wood and Victoria Bell explore the issues of text abbreviations affecting children in the study “Txt msg n school literacy: do texting and knowledge of text abbreviations influence children's literacy unfavorably?” Joe Huber also identifies with the idea of ​​textism effects in the article "Texting As Language: Evolution or Regression?" Textisms are a recently controversial issue that has piqued the interest of countless scholars and led to a number of studies and articles. Joe Huber addressed the issue of textisms in the article "Texting As Language: Evolution or Regression?" Huber again argues that the use of textisms is not a new concept. Researchers have led many people to believe that texts can negatively affect literacy, but Huber points to 3400 BC and 1890. In 3400 BC the Summerians used a type of writing called cuneiform. This style of writing was heavily image based,......half of paper......and the amount of information is knowledge. The more people know, the more power they have. Of course, text-based language use isn't going away anytime soon, so society needs to adapt. Text messaging is one of the fastest growing communication mediums, and the company shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Only time will tell whether the effects of texting are positive or negative. Plester, Wood, and Bell have only scratched the surface in trying to determine whether texting is harmful or beneficial. Neil 6Works CitedHuber, Joe. "The text as language: evolution or regression?" Educator's study. 01 August 2011. Web. 11 November 2011.Plester, Beverly, Clare Wood and Victoria Bell. “Text Messaging in School Literacy: Do Text Messaging and Knowledge of Text Abbreviations Negatively Affect Children's Literacy Achievement?” UKLA 42. Issue 3 (2008): 137-144. Press.