Digital Media

I have acquired the skills of being a good text messenger over the last several years. However, this was an odd process for me to learn before I could become a good text messenger. About three years ago, my half Mexican and half Puerto Rican friend from junior high school named Armando sent me a reply text message after I sent him a text message saying Happy Birthday. The communication media hindered the conversation because his reply said “Thanks, we might play basketball today. I’ll let u know l8tr.” The media hindered the conversation because when he used l8tr to abbreviate the word later, the lower case l looked very similar to the capital letter I in a text message, so even if I knew what l8tr meant, there could still be some confusion.
The context of where I was when I communicated effected what was said when the reply message was sent because I was at home so I asked my sister what l8tr meant. I asked her because my sister was knowledgeable about the language used in text messages. The medium did not have an effect on this communication. This was the case because the misinterpretation of the message caused the communication breakdown. The problem could be isolated to the message because I did not understand the message until I asked my sister. I could have asked Armando what the word l8tr meant, but I already sent a reply message telling him Ok. I also asked my sister for the meaning because when I sent the reply saying Ok, it signified the end of the conversation between Armando and me. This experience was the first of many times I tried to learn the language of text messages so there would be less ambiguity between me and whoever I communicated with through the use of text messages.