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A new study suggests that people who abbreviate their text messages might seem insincere. In addition, they might be less likely to receive replies. Researchers from Stanford University in the USA and the University of Toronto in Canada analyzed 5,000 text messages to gauge the impact of abbreviations. Test participants had to rate their perceived sincerity of messages with and without abbreviations. They also evaluated their likelihood of responding. The researchers said: "Abbreviations make senders seem less sincere and recipients less likely to write back." They added: "Abbreviations signal a lower level of effort from the sender."
Abbreviations in text messages and social media comments have evolved into a distinct genre of writing. The first text message was sent in 1992. Since then, a system of abbreviated text has developed that is largely understood and widely used. Many abbreviations are now in dictionaries. Truncated terms like "fyi," "cul8r," and "imho" are commonplace in text messages. Of course, these mean "for your information," "see you later," and "in my humble opinion". Researcher David Fang said: "We thought texters might like abbreviations because they would convey an informal sense of closeness, so we were surprised that abbreviations elicited negative perceptions about people who use them."
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