There have probably always been people who struggle with spelling anyway, but I do wonder if people place a lack of importance on it now. A story of throw away, "you know what I mean!" rather than trying to make the effort to improve their spelling. If spelling doesn't come easy to you, then you have to find it important enough to make that effort to learn it. Something that I certainly had to do.
I also think it extends to knowledge of the meanings of similar words. Some can sound similar, but mean almost the opposite. I often wonder how some people would fare in legal proceedings when they fail to check correct word usage in making up forms. I had to laugh when a form for a competition entry stated that "entries will not be excepted without payment." It was tempting not to send payment!
I know many hate the "grammar Nazis" and having grammatical errors pointed out, but in legal circles they're not going to let things lie, it doesn't matter how much you say it's not important, or "You know what I meant."
Having said all this, a part of me does wonder if this is how the English language evolves. People deciding it's okay done a different way and then passing on their version of it to others. Just like how the meanings of words evolve as we use them differently or in colloquial terms. However, I gather that law doesn't evolve and original meanings are still used.
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I do agree with this. We are at a point now where finding the shortest way of communicating is becoming the norm. How easy is it to now write a coherent sentence using just emoji?!
I know a few years back, as SMSing became popular, some teachers developed units around the language of SMS, focusing in the different acronyms that were used. Obviously, today we have Twitter, where you need to find ways to keep your content as short as possible, and I also know of teachers who use this platform for teaching students how to write in less than 140 characters.
It's no wonder they struggle when they are taught to use ppl instead of people. I've had students actually write acronyms in essays and reports before. Imagine my horror/amusement to see a student use lol in a formal essay!!
That reminds me of when a lad in our class in the Bill and Ted era used "bogus" in his story for English! It wasn't exactly a word that ever caught on in England, but I guess it shows how youngsters are influenced.
Down here in the South we spell it, Colohkweel.