[DoroKickcrofe]

I've used and I do use abbreviations. Also, alhamdulillah, I read abbreviations in full (as long as I know what the abbreviation is). Curiously, I find it easier to read abbreviations (as in, I read it fully where, for example, iA stands for insha'Allah) than to switch to the Arabic salutation in the middle of text... I still read the Arabic as best I can but it requires a switch in the brain and definitely cuts up the text when reading in English - I find this is the case when text running left-to-right is cut up by text running right-to-left, but not a problem if the Arabic is separate from the body of the text. The letters symbolize a word and regardless of whether the person writes out the full transliteration or uses the abbreviation, I find I still read it fully and smoothly when in abbreviated form (more fluently than a transliteration or Arabic).

[Edit: also, as a person learns the various salutations etc. they are able to say them automatically after a while - regardless of whether the other person writes it out or not... we end up saying it and in chat, we sometimes complete it for the other person (at least I have found this to be the case)]