Does using 1337 5p34k and txtalk dumb down the individual or is it merely a more efficient or variant means of communication? This came up in general chat the other day and I thought it would make a great Off-Topic chat discussion. The arguments:

Pro: The use of txtalk is merely a more efficient means of non-verbal communication. Heavily sprinkled with acronyms, lack of vowels (which have been proven to be unnecessary in written language) and shortened words provides a rapid transit of information in forms of communication which are dependent on typing. 1337 5p34k is simply a subset of esoteric written communication used by certain individuals to highlight their non-verbal information with a touch of uniqueness.

Con: Txtalk is too abridged to be intelligible by most individuals and contributes to the decline of literacy by encouraging poor grasp of grammar and spelling. 1337 5p34k is intentionally confusing to outsiders and used to convey a misguided sense of elitism on the part of the user, condemning those who fail to understand as old or inept, when in fact, such is not so.

So what is your opinion? For the record, I find using correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization completely unnecessary in a form of non-verbal communication (such as chat rooms) which will not be preserved in any way and is simply a means of conveying one concept or idea to others. In this regard, using the quickest and most efficient but effective means of communication is preferred. Thus, txtalk is actually quite useful. In chat rooms, I rarely use correct punctuation and never use capitalization as doing so slows down my rate of words/per minute. I often contract words and substitute letters for entire words when I feel the meaning will be preserved (e.g. using "n" in place of "and"). My opinion of 1337 5p34k is slightly different since I find it inefficient. It often takes longer to type something in 1337 5p34k than it does to type it correctly, punctuation, proper spelling and all.