I think it is a severe threat to standard language. Almost every kid has a mobile phone these days. I mean, I even see toddlers with mobile phones! The problem is that many of these kids have grown up with MSN and SMS instead of books and newspapers so their perception of what is correct and what is wrong starts to fade. I've already heard of instances in which kids used abbreviation in actual exams. And to be honest I'm amazed at how many English kids don't even know the difference between "your" and "you're". (Let alone the ones who think that "ur" is a proper way to spell this.)

I'm not sure if it's exactly the same but in Chinese you also have things like 88 (八八... ba ba) which sounds like "bye-bye" and is used in that way. There are many other phrases but I only know 88 and 521. 521 consists of the sounds "wu" 五 (5), "er" 二 (2) and "yi" 一 (1). However, with some creativity you can see that it means 我爱你 (I love you). "Wu" becomes "wo", "er" becomes "ai" and "yi" becomes "ni". I don't think it has the same effect on people's literacy though because characters don't work like the alphabet. Here in the Netherlands it's possible to find errors everywhere, even in supposedly high-quality newspapers. When I look at how most kids these days write stuff, on MSN and Facebook/Myspace profiles for example, I'm really afraid that our education system has failed. A couple of weeks ago there was a teacher on national TV who couldn't even write a basic Dutch verb properly. What a sad world.

The problem I see is that many people think proper grammar is boring and not very important so they would rather use u instead of you or 2 instead of two, to or too in every situation, and with everyone or try to learn and use slang first without realizing that could be offensive if you don't know when it's ok to use it. In my opinion that kind of thinking is what threatens standard language to some extend. On the other hand I think sms language is ok IF you know when and where to use it. I use words and abreviations like thnx, ttyl, brb, jk, etc. when I chat or sms my friends but I would never use that kind of language to answer a question here on italki because I know it wouldn't be the best for people who are learning and will take your answers seriously.

Harregarre makes some very good points, because as a teacher I have to constantly explain that SMS is not correct in formal essays at school, uni, work etc reports .

I dont think its a threat in anyway to standard language. Any educated person knows the difference. I think everyone uses some slang of sorts, especially among friends. From my point of view, its not a case of grammar being boring. But if its all very casual chat, whats the need for formalities? Only thing i agree, its probably not helpful to people learning english. Provided they know its slang.