Dartmouth is a unique environment for the examination of English as affected by the Internet because electronic mail is such a crucial part of communication on campus, mass communication or individual communication. However, this makes the study all the more intriguing since Blitzmail itself has created such an interesting socio-linguistic phenomenon around it. There may not be a higher percentage of hard-core Internet gurus in the Dartmouth student population than anywhere else, but we may assume that the average Dartmouth student probably knows a little more about electronic mail than average students at some other schools.

The major effect of Blitzmail on the Dartmouth community has been Blitzspeak, the language of blitzes and Blitzmail. Dartmouth is a prime example of technology and the Internet encouraging and reinforcing new words, phrases, and means of expression. Electronic communication is doing just that: inspiring new ways for people to express themselves in text. As we muddle through and try to make ourselves understood over e-mail, we make our text more and more human, more emotive with more body language and textual facial expressions, more expressive of ourselves as individuals and more true to life.