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As long as we're distributing blame here, I'd like to add computers and the Internet to the long list of culprits. As well-educated adults, we are aware of the rules of grammar and how they apply. Therefore, we can realize that they are not as necessary in informal settings like instant messaging as they are in formal settings like a business letter or the SAT. Even my mother, the English teacher, omits capital letters when instant messaging and emailing me. The point is that she knows what she's doing and always uses proper grammar in her speech and writing when it matters. My brother, who's considerably younger than I, speaks "e-slang" all the time. He actually says things such as "LOL" and "BRB" in serious conversation. He does not know how to converse with adults or how to speak in semi-formal or formal settings, nor does he see such knowledge as being important. While I'm sure that part of his behaviour is a rebellion against the authority in our family (our parents are English teachers and I, his older sister, am studying to be one), it is still representative of his age group's general antipathy to such things. The importance of the written word died with the advent of mass communications, and the importance of the spoken word seems to be following in its wake.
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