Do we talk ( or write ? ) differently over the Net ? - A lexical enquiry into ‘ a ’ Net - EN - JUN ARATA

Emails , In ternet d iscussion fora , chat rooms. . .a growing number of people use network connected computers for their personal , educat ional , and job-re la ted correspondence. Some are very formal and some others are very casual . When people are in such computer mediated communicat ion (CMC), do they ta lk (or wri te) d i f ferent ly f rom convent ional wri t ten or ora l communicat ions? In lodging an onl ine appl icat ion form, for ins tance, i t i s easy to imagine that the form can be ident ical to a pr in ted hard copy. The quest ion is , however , what would i t be that ones specif ic in computer mediated communicat ions such as those emai ls , In ternet fora , and chat rooms? Are they used in the same way as personal or profess ional le t ters (wri t ing) or te lephone conversat ions (speaking)? Herr ing (1996) def ines the character is t ics of the language in CMC as: