Do You Speak American: IMing in Appalachia

I just wanted to shoot out this interesting article to everybody - it is completely worth two or three minutes. Specifically, its an NPR article on how black students in rural, western North Carolina reiterate their African American identity by employing certain accent and slang terms and phrases, even while instant messaging. I find this sort of analysis significant because it really hits at how Americans in general and Appalachians in particular utilize their accents, consciously and unconsciously, to define their in and out groups and to enhance their personal self-worth. Just interesting food for thought.