You're correct that language is ever-changing, but while I think that chatspeak/"internet speak" may be increasingly common in casual parlance, it's hardly going to replace formal English in matters where precision and descriptive power are important. Chatspeak isn't sufficient for things like legal documentation or scientific research, for example.
This.
To add/emphasize, Feign, the truth is that while a lot of the grammatical rules are actually
new compared to the language itself (such as, for example, the fact that punctuation didn't exist until the printing press came along), they're still used. What really pisses me off about the kids who say, "Well, times are a-changin'" is that most of them really use it as an excuse for not paying attention in class or otherwise doing the research
or not bothering to proofread or find an editor who can for them. Just because you, in casual speak, might say "omg brb kthnx lolololol" doesn't mean that it's perfectly kosher to do it in writing. The formal, written language, while it changes here and there each century, will
not deteriorate to the point of stupidity, unfortunately. While there is such a thing as contractions, there really is no reason to use chatspeak in formal writing; the acronyms and internet subculture are inherently not taken seriously by the academic circles, not to mention the most common acronyms would actually be bad form to use in a paper anyway (for example, IIRC). Except in the field of sociology because sociologists are a strange lot.
Meanwhile, in fiction, it's a lot like seeing a Cockney accent rendered ridiculously. It's just not the way most people actually speak, and it's heavily, heavily unlikely that most people
would unless they're joking
or general society becomes a mass of 4chan-surfing, socially inept mouse potatoes. Considering the fact that this portion of society is, right now, a minority, I highly doubt there will be a sudden revolution in which over 75% of the English-speaking population suddenly learns English through illiterate thirteen-year-olds.
The non-ranty answer to your question is that it depends on whom you ask. Some writing guides
do say that it's still a rule (and for this, I say it's still a rule); others say it was discarded in the late nineteenth century.
Feign said:
Though, I could see at least a few words from the internet, making its way into spoken/written English (an example could be like 'LOL')
So help me God, I will personally backhand anyone who actually tries to work this into a paper.
Additionally, if my tone puts any of you off, I'll have to apologize, but seriously, this made me bristle:
Would it still be considered a rule, even if the language has changed since then?
People tend to use the "who does that?" line all the time, and it's really usually because people don't look crap up. Look. If you're ever tempted to violate a grammatical rule, go use our friend Google, not an excuse.
Moreover, more things go into the evolution of a language than just what the kids are doing nowadays. Eventually, the kids grow up, and if they get away from a computer, those adults would actually be literate (or will at least be laughed at by the actual professional people). Evolution of a language comes
not from simply what's overdone but also widespread cultural
and technological changes. (Yes, the internet is a technology, but I'm talking about something like the addition of the concepts of paragraphs and periods when print came about because it was easier to understand the print if it was separated. I'm talking about changes to
refine the language, not simply break it down. Moreover, I just don't believe we have a cultural revolution that would cause a sudden complete transformation of the language on our hands. We have a new means of communication, yes, but ultimately, the socially inept kids who can't live without the internet just equate to the same socially inept kids who couldn't communicate without Vulcan twenty years ago.)
