Instant messaging is not just fast, it’s also short, and teenagers seem to be addicted to it, in the sense that they tend to incorporate all sorts of emoticons and informal ways of writing into their school assignments, a study released by Pew Internet & American Life Project and the National Commission on Writing unveiled.

According to the study, most mistakes of such nature involuntarily occur, as teenagers often use acronyms or emoticons in their writing, and that happened to at least 64 percent of them. And for whoever might think such a small mistake isn’t in fact such a big deal, well it is, as good writing skills will most certainly prove efficient in their future careers.

Although it might seem negligent of them, 60 percent of the teenagers interviewed are aware that this shouldn’t normally happen and could influence their careers, and that electronic text does not equal writing. However, it became such a normal way of writing (sometimes you can comprise a whole sentence in just a few letters), that teachers and parents should try to pay attention to their children’s habits.

The study unveiled that 85 percent of teens, aged 12-17 use electronic ways of communication, including text messaging or posting comments on social networking sites. Half of the interviewed teens use informal writing styles in their school assignments, while 38 of them admitted to using text shortcuts such as LOL (“laugh out loud”) and 25 of them have used emoticons.

“Teens know that writing is important. Most know that the informal writing they do now will not sustain them as they grow to be adullts. However, they take great pleasure in developing personal informal writing styles as a way to express and distinguish who they are now – teens who do not yet need to be adults,” the study said.

While some teenagers know and make a difference between writing styles, some of them incorporate the informal into formal as a habit. However, as technology is and will continue to be part of our lives, they must be able to distinguish between the two environments and choose the appropriate writing every time.