Crabtree + Company (C+C) has announced the release of its first iPhone application following a successful soft launch. Aiming to combat the growing digital divide between generations, the LRNtheLingo application decodes slang, texting codes, and emoticons commonly-used today by teenagers and others.
The Crabtree team was inspired to create the app following the suicide of a friend’s daughter. The friend felt that better understanding teen communication would have helped her recognize warning signs in her teen’s behavior. In response, LRNtheLingo is designed to help parents quickly and easily decipher and stay in touch with terminology used by their children. This is especially important given the growth in cyberbullying and sexting.
“Since this was our first app, it was a learning experience; but we really wanted to make something good come from a terrible loss. We hope parents and other adults can use this app to open lines of communication,” said C+C President Lucinda Crabtree. “So many slang terms have innocent-sounding, secondary meanings that we might never realize that our kids are actually talking about some very dangerous behaviors.”
LRNtheLingo contains a database of more than 500 lingo terms, 1,100 texting codes, and nearly 200 emoticons. Early responses to LRNtheLingo suggest that parents will not be only ones to benefit from the app. Teachers, law enforcement and medical personnel, among others, can be better prepared to intervene when they are aware of the actual meaning of these terms, codes, and emoticons. As a modern dictionary filled with culturally relevant terms, LRNtheLingo will help connect the generations.
Crabtree pointed out the not all app lingo is serious. “Many of the emoticons-”those smiley-face text drawings -” are very funny. My personal favorites are the emoticons for Cindy Crawford and Homer Simpson.”
The firm expects to release an updated version of the app early next year and is exploring partnerships with national organizations to make the app more widely available to public safety and school professionals. Individuals may purchase the application from Apple’s AppStore for just $0.99. Currently, the app is compatible with all iPhone and iPod Touch models running system 3.0 or higher.
For more information, visit the LRNtheLingo website at http://www.lrnthelingo.com or the AppStore via the iTunes application. Follow LRNtheLingo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LRNtheLingo.
