Using TextSpeak

Okay, so for obvious reasons, I understand that the general consensus on using TextSpeak is a resounding “NO.” However, for an essay, I wanted to start it off with a snippet from a text conversation with my friends. Should I preserve the original conversation, complete with “yo”, “wanna”, “y’all” and “aight” or should I change the words so they are not TextSpeak. If the answer is the latter, should I still try to keep it informal as possible to preserve the feel of the conversation?

I think if you use quotation marks to quote verbatim, then it’s okay use what you call text speak. Otherwise, I would not. You may even want to acknowledge that it is a text vernacular as you quote it.

I would caution against a lot of quotes, as you don’t want the essay to simply be a full text transcript. Also, you’re more likely to make mistakes with grammar and single vs double quotation mark when there are a lot of exact quotes in an essay.

I think your idea is okay, but not in excess.

I agree. If it’s just a quick quote and you show good writing skills in the rest of your essay, it has the potential to be an effective way to grab the reader’s attention.