What is a texting shorthand?

Texting shorthand is the process of using initialisms in text to convey ideas quicker and more efficiently. Texting shorthand takes common words and phrases and reduces the amount of characters needed to express these words to the least amount necessary.

Examples of shorthand text is LOL, which is short for laugh out loud, or BTW, which is short for by the way. Shorthand is common is computer culture and on social media. The use of shorthand text makes writing words and long messages easier, and the use is especially prevalent on sites such as Twitter that only allow for a certain amount of characters per post.