The dawning of instant messenger brought about an awareness that spurred change in the way people communicate with text. Not only did common phrases become shortened to create a proliferation of internet slang and abbreviations (ttly, g2g, lol, rofl, imho, ect) but also a method of adding media richness to text was created. The emoticons, :) , :p , :s and many others were adopted to convey the meaning behind the text. I do not believe that this was the first attempt for a culture to relay what was lost without tone, gestures, facial expressions
and other context clues given in face-to-face meetings. However it was and is a great way to increase social presence in a text based environment.
and other context clues given in face-to-face meetings. However it was and is a great way to increase social presence in a text based environment.