Addressing declining literacy rates in an increasingly digital world

The beauty of storytelling hides in the complexity of language, its subtle undertones, nuances, and variety. The way we communicate online, however, calls for a simplified rendition of communication. Much like Orwell’s Newspeak, it limits our expression with the promise of immediacy and ease in communication. But are we losing more than the time we’re saving? A student project based on an old competition brief, this copy-driven idea aims to show people just how big of an influence slang can have. To make it work, we took some of the classics – ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’, and summed them up in Twitter’s 280 character format. Our aim is not to eradicate slang, or shame those who use it, but to give our audience a shocking and satirical portrayal of a not-so-impossible future in which its excessive use has spread to all types of communication.