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Subject: Internet Language... ( 11 of 14 )
Posted by The GHP

I would say that on the Internet*, language and communication has greatly evolved in one way or another. Chat rooms have a vast array of new words and abbreviations, message boards and forums have also changed writing forms over time. I find that being actively involved in forums or discussions has greatly improved my own writing skills.

Role Playing Games with many players flourish on forums, especially those with a fantasy or sci-fi theme. One of my favorite activities on such forums wasn't possible not too long ago--interactive group storytelling. This lets everyone get directly involved in influencing the plot with thier own character(s).

An example of this--for over a year I've been posting to a particular forum regularly. It is a forum that has no moderator, no overseer, and no editor--though it is relatively protected as it is mostly unknown. This forum wasn't intended for heavy use, but what has arisen there is a lengthy, ongoing story. A semi-informal set of rules is mostly in effect, but there is freedom to post anything at all--and so the story grows. The site itself is for the Starlight Lines Intranet, so the storyline naturally arose on board the StarShip Titanic. The point is, it's been going since the site opened (about two years), and the messages now total 26,849! All from a fairly small community, but a determined one. This is only one example of how sites and forums can self-organize naturally to find a form that works well. In this case, the story-telling and methods evolved out of nearly nothing but a common idea and setting. And it's wonderful!

The Grand High Pomogranate

*(using the term loosly, to refer to not only the WWW, but also all the other systems and subsystems that connect computers as well, such as instant messengers, telnet, newsgroups, email, and so forth)
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