2 B kreativ’ or not to be creative: Textisms and texters’ creativity

Abstract

IntroductionText messages are particularly popular among young people. Studies have focused on the links between writers’ unconventional spelling and literacy skills. Creativity gives the possibility to cope with the numerous changes people have to face. ObjectiveThe present research aimed to examine the relation between the creative potential of texters (text-message writers) and their use of textisms (a change in a word's orthographic form as compared to traditional writing). MethodTwo corpora were compiled: one of 285 elicited text messages and one of 580 naturalistic text messages produced in daily-life situations by undergraduates (n=29, 20–23 years of age). Two types of textisms were measured: those consistent with traditional written code and those breaking with traditional written code. Four scores of creative potential were considered: graphic divergent thinking, verbal divergent thinking, graphic integrative thinking and verbal integrative thinking. ResultsThe results showed negative correlations between the level of creativity and the density of textisms. Overall, texters who were creative in divergent thinking produced fewer textisms breaking with traditional written code. ConclusionThe results of our study are discussed with regard to the texters’ flexibility and ability to adapt or appropriately address their interlocutor.