In Because Internet Gretchen McCulloch explores the rise of an informal written version of English. She strikes a comparison between formal spoken English (TV presenters, people giving speeches) and informal spoken English (everyone talking to their friends and family) and sees the same distinction between the formal English you read in a book and the informal English you read (and write) when you text or tweet or engage online with others via text. She then moves to examine in some detail this corpora of informal written English from her perspective as a linguist.
The book is interesting and quite accessible for the non-expert to understand. While I generally find any book that explores language fascinating I didn’t get as into this one as I usually do. I would still recommend this book however as I think anyone who engages in the online world will find it an interesting exploration of our developing language.
