FYI, 13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpN
April 23, 2007 11:46 AM   Subscribe

A 13 year old school girl is the new us text message champion. See how she crushed the competition btw her tiny thumbs.
posted by impolitic (89 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I have this intense fear that in afew generations, human beings will actually talk, as in with their mouths, in textspeak.
posted by jonmc at 11:51 AM on April 23, 2007


My kids cannot have their own phone until they're older - and then only for emergencies. I think this new SMS culture is the opposite of book.
posted by chuckdarwin at 11:54 AM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


rofl

3000 years ago jonmc's ancestor had an intense fear that human beings would write, as in with their hands, in mouthspeak.
posted by DU at 11:56 AM on April 23, 2007 [3 favorites]


In the end, 13-year-old Morgan Pozgar faced off against Michael "Cheeser" Nguyen in the east coast final

Wait a fucking minute she beat The Cheeser?!? Someone needs to present her with the Purple Heart or something...
posted by NationalKato at 12:05 PM on April 23, 2007


Yeah, but she used a QWERTY keyboard. Engadget described it by:
How does it feel to have an asterisk permanently affixed next to your "World's Fastest Texter" title, Ms. Pozgar? Shall we give sprinters roller skates in the Olympics next year, too?

Although, my favorite part of the whole thing is this quote in the AFP article is this:

Asked if she would describe herself as a geek, Pozgar rolled her eyes and said no. Her brother, who had separately won a television, seemed to disagree.
posted by demiurge at 12:06 PM on April 23, 2007


I have this intense fear that in afew generations, human beings will actually talk, as in with their mouths, in textspeak.

Its already showing up in students' academic writing.
posted by fallenposters at 12:06 PM on April 23, 2007


USA! USA! USA!
posted by jourman2 at 12:07 PM on April 23, 2007


3000 years ago jonmc's ancestor had an intense fear that human beings would write, as in with their hands, in mouthspeak.

It's frustrating to me that every thing needs to be seen as progress. If people communicate mainly in textspeak, they could lose the ability to express certain concepts that require more nuanced words.

In other words, OMG WTF!
posted by drezdn at 12:08 PM on April 23, 2007


Oh, and she didn't type anything in "TXT speak". She had to type a quote from Mary Poppins.
posted by demiurge at 12:09 PM on April 23, 2007


I don't get the problem with using QWERTY. It's a texting device available on the market and used by actual consumers, right? Not purpose-built to dominate the championship?
posted by DU at 12:09 PM on April 23, 2007


If people communicate mainly in textspeak, they could lose the ability to express certain concepts that require more nuanced words.

No they wouldn't. New vocabulary and usage would quickly arise to express that nuance. I think human history shows that inventiveness eventually solves problems like this.

That current textspeak isn't too nuanced is less a function of the limitations of small words and more a function of the not-very-nuanced mindsets of the age of the users.
posted by DU at 12:14 PM on April 23, 2007 [5 favorites]


I don't get the problem with using QWERTY. It's a texting device available on the market and used by actual consumers, right? Not purpose-built to dominate the championship?

No, but that would be pretty sweet.
posted by delmoi at 12:14 PM on April 23, 2007 [2 favorites]


Well, if they allow (require?) QWERTY keyboards, how is it a texting competition and not a typing competition?
posted by roll truck roll at 12:16 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


lolx2
posted by voltairemodern at 12:16 PM on April 23, 2007


She crushed the competition by the way her tiny thumbs?
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:19 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


Yes I noticed that too, btw.
posted by ob at 12:21 PM on April 23, 2007


I deserve a Purple Heart for having to answer this, but: Tininess
posted by DU at 12:22 PM on April 23, 2007


Great. I just spent $24.95 USD on "Semaphores For Dummies" and I didn't keep my receipt.
posted by Dizzy at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


DU: I just have nightmarish visions of comedy clubs full of people chanting LOL! LOL! in a village of the damned monotone.
posted by jonmc at 12:25 PM on April 23, 2007 [5 favorites]


she trained by sending on average 8,000 text messages a month

OMG
posted by R. Mutt at 12:27 PM on April 23, 2007


Until they start going ROFL!
posted by ob at 12:28 PM on April 23, 2007


I have this intense fear that in afew generations, human beings will actually talk, as in with their mouths, in textspeak.

I overheard a girl in Target last week say "OMG!" out loud over a new DVD release. As I was standing next to her, I replied by telling her, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."
posted by peeedro at 12:28 PM on April 23, 2007 [9 favorites]


I talk to my kids about this paradise of theirs sometimes. Ubiquitous cellphones, IM, texting, email, blogs -- total communication all the time! The internet -- total information all the time! Downloading music, youtube, online games -- instant gratification all the time!

I was a teenager twenty years ago and I have no idea how I got through the day -- the world sucked at that time. My friends and I felt that we'd been born too late -- that the 60's were the time to be young. Does any kid nowadays wish he'd been born before now? Hell no they don't.
posted by Methylviolet at 12:29 PM on April 23, 2007


pee--
did you just say, "I buried Paul"?
posted by Dizzy at 12:30 PM on April 23, 2007


Peeedro -- I am sure she responded with "CWAA."
posted by Methylviolet at 12:32 PM on April 23, 2007


New vocabulary and usage would quickly arise to express that nuance.

Using technology as the main focus, there are several times where knowledge has noticeably fallen backwards, and I think failures of language can be a partial explanation. In theory, it's possible to create advanced inventions but if you can't explain them to others in a way that they can carry on your work, it will wither and die. (see also Tesla)

This is a bit of a derail though, brought my recent annoyance over peoples willingness to accept everything new as an advancement.

This story though is really just about a girl who can type really fast on a really small qwerty keyboard [not typist]
posted by drezdn at 12:35 PM on April 23, 2007


As I was standing next to her, I replied by telling her, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."

I might call you a pretentious douche bag, but being as I have no idea what you said, you were probably being funny, and I should refrain.

...

LOLLERCOPTERZ
posted by Alex404 at 12:36 PM on April 23, 2007


It's the pseudo-Latin that they use to fill empty space in design templates. He wasn't being a douche bag.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:44 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


Amateur radio operators ("hams") who regularly use Morse code can transmit messages considerably faster than this. Jay Leno had a contest on his show last year: Morse coders beat the phone texters by a large margin.
posted by neuron at 12:47 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


This story though is really just about a girl who can type really fast on a really small qwerty keyboard

In the future, to make things more interesting, the contestants should dash around on top of a gigantic qwerty keyboard. "While texting 'KTHXBY,' she traveled the equivalent of 2.6 miles without missing a step! Truly a world-class Texter."
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 12:49 PM on April 23, 2007


pee--
did you just say, "I buried Paul"?


No, only countering her generation's online gobeldygook for mine.
posted by peeedro at 12:49 PM on April 23, 2007


Peeedro, she said something that had meaning, and that you obviously understood. Then you said something directly to her that had no meaning and that she (presumably) did not understand. 'OMG' is certainly not gobbledygook.
posted by demiurge at 12:53 PM on April 23, 2007


Check!
I failed Etaoin Shrdlu in high school, so I wasn't sure.
posted by Dizzy at 12:53 PM on April 23, 2007


Here's just a brief transcript of some of her daily messages:

OMG. Just woke. Days 1st Redbull.

Teeth brushed. Braces sux yall.

WTH? Who 8 my Eggos?

Skrt or Jeanz? Help me out! I can't chooze!

OMG. I need dark polish 2 cover my black thumbnailz.

Is it normal to have thick calluses on your fingertips? I can press an entire staple into the front of my thumb and not feel it.

Whatever! L8r h8rs!
posted by ColdChef at 12:55 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


Is it normal to have thick calluses on your fingertips? I can press an entire staple into the front of my thumb and not feel it.

sounds normal to me.
posted by nola at 1:08 PM on April 23, 2007


I think this new SMS culture is the opposite of book.

Heh.
posted by dobbs at 1:08 PM on April 23, 2007




That really wasn't the video I was expecting, based on your description, Anything.
posted by spicynuts at 1:18 PM on April 23, 2007


Cup stacking record? Are you fucking kidding me?
posted by Alex404 at 1:18 PM on April 23, 2007


this proves Intelligent Design!
posted by Postroad at 1:20 PM on April 23, 2007


My kids cannot have their own phone until they're older - and then only for emergencies. I think this new SMS culture is the opposite of book.
posted by chuckdarwin


misnomersterical

If people communicate mainly in textspeak, they could lose the ability to express certain concepts that require more nuanced words.


Hemingwayahead of his time.
posted by srboisvert at 1:26 PM on April 23, 2007 [2 favorites]


roflwaffle. lawlers.
posted by bam at 1:34 PM on April 23, 2007


That really wasn't the video I was expecting, based on your description, Anything.

I don't think you can expect that video, whatever the description.
posted by Anything at 1:39 PM on April 23, 2007


'OMG' is certainly not gobbledygook.

You're right demiurge, it's not gobbledygook to you or me as it effectively communicates a message of surprise. But this message is only clear to some listeners but not to others, such as mrs. peeedro who had to ask me what "O-M-G" means. Unable to decode the intended meaning, mrs. peeedro assigned a different meaning to the message. To her, and probably some other adults, "OMG" in this context conveys the message that this textspeaking girl is not someone that they would ever hire or want to work with. That might make us h8rs or douche bags, but I concede "OMG" can't be gobbledygook because it sublimely communicates varied ideas, all full of nuance.
posted by peeedro at 1:46 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


I just barfed in my mouth.
posted by Count at 1:48 PM on April 23, 2007


In theory, it's possible to create advanced inventions but if you can't explain them to others in a way that they can carry on your work, it will wither and die. (see also Tesla)

This is a good reason why we should stop publishing all our scientific journals in l33tsp34k.
posted by chrominance at 1:54 PM on April 23, 2007


"I just wasn't fast enough," said Nguyen, a 23-year-old engineer from Pennsylvania. Asked how it felt to take second place, he was clearly disappointed: "I just got beaten by a teenage girl, but you know."

That was actually the only redeeming part of this whole debacle... I like the mental image of the 24-year-old software engineer who made it to the late rounds of the competition. He was THAT CLOSE, until his thumb cramps or whatever the hell it was cost him the money, and now he's standing on the podium below the 13-year-old girl, who is gloating triumphantly to all her friends in apocryphal SMS, while her smiling parents marvel at the wonder they have begotten, and meanwhile he's thinking about having to go back to work tomorrow, where the QA guys will snicker at him behind his back and the mail dude will come up with a saccharine nickname relating to his inability to take down a pubescent dilettante named 'Tirosh' at the only thing he's ever been really good at.

Then a meteor crushes the arena.

ROFLCOPTER.
posted by Mayor West at 2:04 PM on April 23, 2007 [4 favorites]


I look forward to the day a device is invented that allows us to communicate over long distances wirelessly with our voices, so as to negate the need for keyboards or similar means for punching out words (or abbreviations thereof) letter-by-letter.
posted by davejay at 2:12 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


Asked how it felt to take second place, [Nguyen] was clearly disappointed: "I just got beaten by a teenage girl"

Hey, when I was 15, I used to spend hours dreaming of just that.
posted by maxwelton at 2:19 PM on April 23, 2007 [2 favorites]


This is a good reason why we should stop publishing all our scientific journals in l33tsp34k.

The idea that I'm attempting to get across is that if our language becomes smaller (or at least more people become less fluent in it), than it possible for decline whether technological or social.
posted by drezdn at 2:22 PM on April 23, 2007


But maybe I'm just overthinking a plate of beans.
posted by drezdn at 2:23 PM on April 23, 2007


Jay Leno had a contest on his show last year: Morse coders beat the phone texters by a large margin.
posted by neuron at 3:47 PM on April 23


Huh. Then why don't they sell phones that can accept morse code input? It would be a lot easier to text one-handed without look and the phone.
posted by Pastabagel at 2:26 PM on April 23, 2007


I suspect the reason is that morse code has a higher bar to entry. You can start out texting totally clueless, squinting at the tiny letters on each key, and gradually improve until you can do it one-handed and blind. But you can't use morse code period unless you already know the code.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:37 PM on April 23, 2007


But you can't use morse code period unless you already know the code.

--- .-. .-.. -.-- ..--..
posted by maxwelton at 2:39 PM on April 23, 2007


.... - - .--. ---... -..-. -..-. -- --- .-. ... . -.-. --- -.. . .-.-.- ... -.-. .--. .... .. .-.. .-.. .. .--. ... .-.-.- -.-. --- -- -..-. .--- - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - --- .-. .-.-.- .... - -- .-..
posted by kafziel at 3:07 PM on April 23, 2007


.... - - .--. ---... -..-. -..-. -- --- .-. ... . -.-. --- -.. . .-.-.- ... -.-. .--. .... .. .-.. .-.. .. .--. ... .-.-.- -.-. --- -- -..-. .--- - .-. .- -. ... .-.. .- - --- .-. .-.-.- .... - -- .-..

Fair enough. But I'm not gonna go there every time I want to send a text message.

Hmm. Morse code doesn't seem to italicize well.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:14 PM on April 23, 2007


Language evolves.

Be glad you're not speaking Old English or Middle English.
posted by kbanas at 3:35 PM on April 23, 2007


If it wasn't for sarcastic text-speak in my daily conversation, I would lose a part of my most impressive smartass lexicon.

Come on. Who doesn't walk by a trio of tweens or whatever they're called squealing over some inane shit and say in their best valleygirl speak "O.M.G. You guys. Sanjaya is like, so CUUTE."

What, I'm the only one who openly mocks children?
posted by mckenney at 3:46 PM on April 23, 2007


I think this new SMS culture is the opposite of book.

God knows, when I was 13, I wrote flowery letters in full sentences to my pals. Yeah. Right between listening to the the crappy rock bands that dominated the '98 charts.
posted by Firas at 3:48 PM on April 23, 2007


Did you ever draw little hearts instead of dots over the "i"?
My first girlfriend Donna did.
I thought that was the coolest thing my nine-year-old eyes had ever seen.
Last time I checked she worked for Hallmark.
posted by Dizzy at 3:56 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


Who, me? That's a strictly "girly" thing to do, as you're probably well aware!!
posted by Firas at 3:58 PM on April 23, 2007


You know who else was "girly'?
That's right.
posted by Dizzy at 4:02 PM on April 23, 2007


Fun post.

Since using email I now think in abbreviation and imagine wtf, lol, /derail, various emoticons when observing something. Not sure what it's done to my nuances but life is funner. :)

Anything that cup stacking vid was hilarious. wow.

Here's another young girl prodigy with finger that fly.
posted by nickyskye at 4:04 PM on April 23, 2007


Your mom?

channeling 13-year-old self
posted by Firas at 4:04 PM on April 23, 2007


I really like "OMG" as a rather perfect summary of many situations. I would never say the letters as opposed to the phrase, but I think the abbreviation is more evocative than the long form when used in casual writing.
posted by maxwelton at 4:11 PM on April 23, 2007


Unsure.
She had really big hands.
And she wore the pants.
posted by Dizzy at 4:11 PM on April 23, 2007


God knows, when I was 13, I wrote flowery letters in full sentences to my pals.

We had note-writing contests where the whole point was to write a longer letter each week. I'm pretty sure we got up to 50 pages or so. With full sentences. So just because you were an illiterate teeneager . . .
posted by dame at 4:34 PM on April 23, 2007


*oh damn, not finger that fly, lol, (that would be something), fingers.
posted by nickyskye at 4:53 PM on April 23, 2007


Relevant part of a song I wrote for but did not submit to SongFight...

(title given was "tw3rp")

I'm a twerp, I'm a jerk, I'm a real piece of work
People shun me on the street
But my MySpace page is sweet
And my Warcraft guild all thinks I'm leet

LOL can you tell that I never learned to spell
When I'm texting on my phone
While I'm sitting here alone
L8r I'm going home

ROFL ROFL RUFing kidding me
IMHO IMHO IMA lot of fun
ROFLMAO this loneliness is killing me
!!1
posted by davejay at 5:02 PM on April 23, 2007


Texting is all about asynchronizing what is otherwise a synchronous, lossy, collision-prone, endpoint-leaky channel, davejay.

Phones require both parties to be involved and are half-duplex (only one party can comfortably send or receive at one time).

There is built-in error-checking, but it is equally synchronous ("What was the last number?") and so prone to the same issues as the rest of the channel.

Phones are comparatively more vulnerable to leakage at the endpoints - you must say everything out loud, ("The test was negative... the, um, the one about my *rash*...") compared to the lesser threat of your typed content being observed.

Phone conversations also have trouble suppressing noise at the source ("No I'm in a garage. That's a car. No not a *bar*, shit.").

What's more, this synchronous duplex channel is notoriously good at conveying nuance ("...no.") but bad at error-intolerant literal information ("One three fourteen elm, er, no it's Elm road I guess." - "314 Elmer road?" - "One three one four elm road." - "1314 elmerode? Is that Spanish?").

Compare "test neg. rash nothing. drinks later?" and "1314 Elm Rd" to the above. Also consider that the message composition took 0 time from the receiver (and could be sent in the time it takes to ring the handset, very valuable in poor coverage areas).

Of course, there's a poetic argument for the pleasant misimpressions of conversation on which much narrative is built, but texting overcomes some limitations of voice communication comfortably while reducing overhead on the receiver and adding comparatively little to the sender (pre-composing thoughts and typing dexterity).

Of course, phone conversations have nuance, deniability, emotional character and guaranteeability (the call was received or it wasn't, the message was sent or it wasn't, the recipient indicated the message is understood or they didn't, repeat) and convey urgency like nothing short of a face-to-face conversation.

Just sayin. The channel is not intrinsically *for* anything, the narrative and the data both have a place there, and every new channel gets bored wide enough to convey nuance as its acceptance grows.

So about this can of beans: it is about renewable protein sources versus unsustainable mass-production....
posted by abulafa at 5:03 PM on April 23, 2007 [8 favorites]


What is the accepted format for excerpting lyrics? Should I have blockquoted that? Hmm.
posted by davejay at 5:04 PM on April 23, 2007


It's largely social/emotional communication. Worrying about its effect on literacy or technical communication is like worrying that waves, smiles, and applause lack sufficient grammatical structure and expressiveness to communicate quantum field theory.

Bad students have always written bad academic papers. Now they do it with fewer letters. Is this the only evidence you have for the imminent threat textspeak poses to civilization?
posted by wool sock at 5:06 PM on April 23, 2007


Texting is all about asynchronizing what is otherwise a synchronous...

That may indeed be the definitive overthink, as you allude to at the bottom, but no less accurate for it. Plus, made me laugh. Also...

Of course, phone conversations have nuance...emotional character...

I've been having text-based conversations with people since I was nine years old, thanks to my father being an early technology adopter, and I find that text messaging carries a great deal of nuance and emotional character. However, I find that most of that nuance and emotional character comes from the punctuation and capitalization, so the new wave of text shorthand often leaves me at a loss -- except where it's used within a more traditional context to add nuance and emotional character.

I'll overthink you under the table...
posted by davejay at 5:08 PM on April 23, 2007


I'm too old to fully understand the most recent usage, but my theory is that nuance (and perhaps an emerging grammar, even) is embedded in the history and context of the conversation. While each individual message is short, there are a lot of them and they are interactive. Texting/chatting is likely much more similar to in-person or voice communication than to email or letters, in that a lot of the complexity is non-verbal/written.
posted by wool sock at 5:25 PM on April 23, 2007


Or more simply, these are not strangers talking to each other. Their texts might seem trivial, insignificant, etc, but convey as much information as a slight change in posture would to my close friends.

Texting is largely just low-bandwidth tele-"body language".
posted by wool sock at 5:37 PM on April 23, 2007


If one wants fifteen minutes of fame, become Very Fast at texting The Lord's Prayer. The loonies branch of that religion will eat it up. As will the media.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:22 PM on April 23, 2007


If one wants fifteen minutes of fame, become Very Fast at texting The Lord's Prayer. The loonies branch of that religion will eat it up. As will the media.

And if you get a reply: OMG.
posted by maxwelton at 7:19 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]


10,000 dollars for the east coast championship and a further 15,000 dollars for the national award.

Pozgar said she trained by sending on average 8,000 text messages a month to her friends


So just a couple more contest victories and her parents'll be able to pay off that overage.
posted by EatTheWeek at 7:23 PM on April 23, 2007


I'd hit it.
posted by Balisong at 8:21 PM on April 23, 2007


This thread is a Litmus test. Prescriptivist vs. descriptivist.

ps rofl k thx bi bbs
posted by exlotuseater at 8:25 PM on April 23, 2007


I'm so, so happy that although my cell phone is one that should be able to handle text messages and my plan allows them, for some reason when people send me text messages they never arrive.

Although I have no experience with them, text messages seem vaguely evil...
posted by davidstandaford at 11:02 PM on April 23, 2007


Hey, fuck you, dame. I wasn't an "illiterate teenager." My point was (and maybe you overlooked comprehension skills in your rush for composition ones) that wailing about the fate of human knowledge because of the way that teens communicate is an absurdly reactionary impulse (and borders on 'those kids today!11' style youth-culture-hatred.)

(And I'm not a parent, so what do I know, but it also strikes me that refusing to let your kids talk in a normal way to their pals because of some pet anthropological developmental theory is the opposite of wisdom.)
posted by Firas at 2:00 AM on April 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


I would like to say that threads like this validate my choice to install the firefox extension 'Leetkey'. It's awesome. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to recognize advanced punctuation.
posted by jacalata at 5:03 AM on April 24, 2007


I think you missed my point in you rush to show off your swearing skills. But whatever.
posted by dame at 9:40 AM on April 24, 2007


Yeah, dame -- can't you see that in giving in to your reactionary impulses you slandered those who overlooked composition skills in their rush for comprehension... ones? And that in relating an anecdote about your teenage years and following it with tongue-in-cheek trash-talking you made a personal attack on me, you dumb bitch?

I am a parent, but if I were not, I would certainly know better than you about some parenting philosophy you expounded (in my head).
posted by Methylviolet at 12:59 PM on April 24, 2007


The parenthesized bit referred to chuckdarwin's comment, which is what my original comment was in response to. Do try to pay attention.
posted by Firas at 1:04 PM on April 24, 2007


Do try to be a little more mature, Firas. You're acting like a brat.
posted by Methylviolet at 1:34 PM on April 24, 2007


Well—not to break your heart or anything—but your opinion of my behaviour hardly ranks among my slightest concerns. I'm not to one trying to be a tepid backup gunner in an already passed-over misunderstanding.
posted by Firas at 1:49 PM on April 24, 2007


No?
posted by Methylviolet at 4:06 PM on April 24, 2007


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