1. How could IM be useful in your career field? Does IM produce a permanent record? Do you think that common abbreviations such as lol and imho and all-lowercase writing are acceptable in text messages for business? Will the use of shorthand abbreviations as well as creative spelling negatively affect writing skills?

2. Tweeting, texting, and quickie e-mailing all may foster sloppy mes- sages. Author Mark Garvey argued, "In business, in education, in the arts, in any writing that takes place outside the linguistic cul-de-sac of our close friends and relatives, writers are expected to reach for certain standards of clarity, concision and care."41 What did Garvey mean? Do you agree?