Formality is going bye-bye?

[Collin T <tutivillus -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Hello All,

You know, something occurred to me this morning, and I was wondering
about your opinions.

I was reading Google's explanation regarding their new chat features
in Gmail.  It dawned on me that their language is very informal.  Now,
I've noticed this before, but never thought too much about it. 
Recently, however, I've noticed a few instances of Help text seeming
to follow Google's lead.

(for those who haven't read it yet, here's a link to the text in question:
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/chat.html)

It would appear that there is a slow shift to less formal text in the
Online world. And I would be willing to credit Google with this shift.

So my question is this:  Are "General Public" documents (help, etc)
going to shift with Google's lead?

I'm not talking about technical documents aimed at specific segments. 
I'm talking about documents that are geared towards general
consumption.

Whatcha think?

-Collin Turner
--
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long
plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die
like dogs. There's also a negative side."

  - Hunter S. Thompson
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