Is written language degrading across all languages?

Is written language degrading across all languages?
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Answer :

I have been wondering the same thing. A couple of years ago I asked a temporary resident who is from Germany if instant messaging in German uses the weird amalgam of shorthand and phonetic abbreviations that we English-speakers use in text messaging. I was expecting her to say something like “Oh, yes, for example we use ‘N8’ to stand for Nacht” (in German, Nacht = “night,” and acht is the word for the number 8). But she was totally bewildered by my question, which I rephrased twice. I think she really did not know of any such thing in German, even though she said she used IM all the time wiith her friends back home. But maybe a younger German speaker would.
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