[Dronak]

As a general rule, I don't mind acronyms like the LOL mentioned in the first post. However they started, they're common enough that it's not really an issue to me. I use some myself now and then in casual electronic conversations. Smileys/emoticons, too. I wouldn't use them in real writing though. It's the other stuff that bugs me -- the bad grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc. No, this isn't English class, but is it *that* much more effort to write properly and clearly? Most of the time I can easily overlook things if I understand what's being said (especially keeping in mind that English is not everyone's first language), but the less mistakes the better. When people start abbreviating everything they possibly can, it's actually harder for me to read and understand though. I have to think about it and kind of translate your shorthand code into real English. Legibility is sacrificed for speed. Don't be so lazy -- which is more important, to have your writing understood or to save a few seconds in typing it up?