The evoluton of language?

Often times, I've heard it said that our technology influences oure culture and language, and consequently our thought.

I've even heard the term that all of this is 'evolving'.

That being said, I wonder at times -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_amnesia

Is 'evolving' really the right term?

The link above is about the Chinese language, but I think the same can be applied to the English language on some level. Specifically, I'm thinking of all the grammatic mangling that goes on when people use Twitter (are they called 'twits'? Or 'twats'? I incline towards the latter), as well as sending text messages. People, in an effort to shorten the time it takes to send a message, shorten words down to their pronounced form. So, "See you later" becomes 'cul8r', and so forth.

Yes, it's good that we communicate faster, but I wonder at what price that come at, in terms of loss of real understanding?