Internet helps speed maturity.

You story is exactly like mine. I started out knowing absolutely nothing about how to type, then over time I learned how to type using "pls" as "please". Then I started to integrate that stupid "1337speak", which when I look back at it was completely retarded. Then as time progressed further, I began to type correctly then started to use punctuation. When I started to get a little more social online (ie; Forums, MapleStory, Chat rooms) I cared how I presented myself to others, which led me to wanting to spell and use punctuation correctly.

When I look back, the Internet IS what made me today. As funny as it sounds, it's true. Without it I'd see myself as a completely different person. So yeah, I do believe the Internet will speed up maturity. A lot of people that already posted bring up tons of excellent examples that I agree with, but some others I disagree.

It's actually kind of funny, I would get to know my friends on MapleStory, we'd exchange names and that was usually it for awhile. Then, after a few months they'd as my age. I swear, most people thought I was older than 20 because of my spelling, punctuation and how I act. The thing is, people thought I was 20 when I was 15. Now at the age of 16 I actually think I'm very mature. Granted, I do have those moments where you let loose and have fun with everyone, but don't we all?

I hate cht spk and 1337. I started using the internet when i was 12(been a decade), and ever since the beginning I had typed in full sentences. I don't think Internet helps with maturity, because you are not actually interacting with the person you are communicating with face to face. You would not know how to judge a person by the way they speak/"act" on the internet, and if internet is the only source of interaction, you may lack the ability of such when you grow up and needing to go into the real world. You can be anyone on the Internet, so can everyone else. If they think I am immature (which happens a lot on MS, and it's pretty funny because they r typn lik tis), but i don't care. People judge you by the way you form sentences and maybe by the way you structure your argument when you debate something. Like a lot of people stated before me, people behave like idiots on the net because they can't do it in real life without dire consequences. I sometimes troll for fun too, it's for when I don't feel like acting too seriously, and I let my inner child come out and play... in the cyber world.

On the flip side, lots of kids are writing in cht speak on their school assignments due to the influence of the internet chatrooms/forums/online games, it is observed everywhere in the world. So it is in a sense, degrading the languages and hindering the learning of the proper form of native language of the child. Chinese for example, have a lot of words that sounds the same but has different characters and has different meanings according to the characters, so to make a post readable in Chinese, you have to choose the appropriate character when you type. Recently I took a look at the biggest Chinese forum online and I observed people not using the appropriate characters for the entire post, in which case could be easily read only if you read each word out aloud, only then it would make sense. I think children should not have free access to the internet at very young age, as it would be harmful.

My 2 cents.

I personally believe that since I have joined my first forum with intelligent people (forum.nexon.net) I have matured a great deal. I still goof off a lot, but when I'm serious, I am about twenty times more mature than most people I know. Not to brag or anything.

Yes, I believe it does. I joined my first forum around the age of 11 (I know, too young, I don't care) and starting playing games online with other people around the age of 10. By the time I was twelve, I was much more mature than other family members when they were twelve. It's even made me type better, if involvement in online communities is what caused that. Two years ago I was typing "omg lol u nub. LAWL XDXD u lose", and since then I've improved a lot. At one point, I was even saying "lol" and writing "u" instead of actually laughing and writing "you". I feel so pathetic. Being involved online, if not being teased or hated, exposes you to more mature subjects and more mature (and immature) people, and you begin to understand more complex things.

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