L337 Speak ?

(I know this may sound weird cos of my Handle) but, Why the hell do people speak in L337 speak ?

Any response would be good.

I think it's a way to make a sort of in-group when on the net, perhaps (Heaven knows why) users feel that there is something intrinsically cool about being able to tell what is being said, and to reply in turn. I think it's more used because it is, in some circles, a fad that has 'hacker' connotations (again, I have no idea how it came to be that way.).

L337 speaking is so popular now. A friend of mine has a Ralph Lauren T-shirt with a phase "R4lph L4ur3n 7-5h1r7"(or something like that) on his back of his shirt. AGH!

Probably, from the looks of a lot of these posts, because they can't speak otherwise, let alone grammatically. Having your own language is cool, but annoying to the rest of us. I have found if you make the effort to communicate clearly, you will more often be heard correctly. I know this will probably get me flamed, but reading some of these missives embarrasses me for the poster(s).

Sorry if I offend, flame away!