Slang existed before social media and will continue on long after when new forms of communication come into existence. The article I read this week titled "How Does Social Media Slang Affect Learning" addressed a few different perspectives on social media slang's impact on student expression.
From what I gathered from the article, studies are somewhat limited, but there is evidence to suggest that students who use slang in social media more often have greater negative impacts on their academic writing skills. Others argue that using slang empowers individuals to write more creatively.
I am an avid reader and I have always written in my free time and can see where slang among many other factors affected my capacities to write. My "voice" or "tone" was heavily influenced by a number of authors and song writers and has now evolved in my middle life into something more personal, but my use of conventions was moreso embedded, I believe through reading. Obviously there were basic levels of education that empowered me to understand conventions but I think that my personal internationalization of grammar rules and conventions was more highly developed as I read books.
I believe, in most aspects of life, in the long run kids will become what they will become in spite of our in light of our best efforts to teach them grammar and conventions. If they feel motivated toward academia they will jump through all the same hurtles that all college students do as their academic writing is conformed to a process or format (ex. apa, mla, etc.). If they choose other avenues of life that don't require rampant essay responses, then basic grammar skills will probably suit them.
At the end of the day if teachers have done their job, at least in regard to what is currently considered language, then students will hopefully know the difference between the times when social media slang is and isn't useful.
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