Regarding the story "Leetspeak: Online Language Keeps Parents Guessing", by Scott Wahle:

While the article's intent, of keeping parents involved in their children's lives, is certainly commendable, the story is shockingly inaccurate. To wit, the communication shortcuts described in the article are not "leetspeak" at all. The examples presented in your article are, in fact, merely acronyms.

"Leetspeak" is the execrable practice of replacing Latin characters with other symbols possessing a roughly analogous shape, such as "1|)107" for "idiot", or "1|_|_173r/\73" for "illiterate".

Another difference is that where "leetspeak" was developed for the express purpose of obfuscation, the acronyms described in your article (the genre of which is commonly known as "textspeak" or "txtspeak") arose originally as a method of expediting text-based chat and messaging conversations, by reducing the amount of typing that must be done. While originally "invented" by poor typists who wished to speed up their online communications, it became greatly popular when telephone text messaging became widely available, due both to the baroque method of text entry on a cellphone keypad, as well as the limited display capabilities of telephone LCD screens.

It should also be pointed out that while "textspeak" enjoys a fairly widespread currency, "leetspeak" has generally been the domain of pubescent self-styled "hackers", who consider themselves "elite" (hence the name, a corrupt derivation of "elite speak").

Again, while I applaud the intent of your article, I must say that it is rather poorly researched and sadly inaccurate concerning the very definitions of its terms.

HTH, HAND (An acronym meaning "Hope This Helps, Have A Nice Day.")

P.S. I am not a kook.