Modern «Estar» and «Para» in Portuguese

Yesterday, I had a conversation on the messenger with Verónica, a friend I have in the Açores, in Portugal. I had noticed that in Brazil syncopated forms of the verb «estar» (to be) are used. This occurs especially in the present and preterit, i.e.:

Present                   Preterit
tô, tou » estou        tava » estava
tás » estás              tavas » estavas
tá » está                 tava » estava
tão » estão              tavam » estavam
tamos » estamos      tavamos » estavamos

At one time, I thought that these forms were solely found in Brazil. However, they are just as much used in Portugal. In both countries, the syncopated forms are the spoken norm. In the written form, they are non-standard. On writing on the internet, more times than not, one finds the shortened forms. In both sides of the Atlantic, these forms have gotten much social acceptance. They are used by all people, in all levels of society. This is confirmed by Vero, who, in our letters and internet conversations, always uses these forms. She says that even her professors at school do this; that only the language purists use the 'standard' forms. That is, in both countries, the spoken standard is already that of the syncopated forms. It is not socially marked, except in highly formal situations. That is, the action of using the 'standard' forms in a normal conversation will give one an image of being pedantic.
My online friend, Wallace, from Rio de Janeiro, tells me about the situation in Brazil. He confirms what I have stated. He says that, to his opinion, at least 98% of the people in Rio use the syncopated forms. He adds that even if he himself tries to speak with the standard scheme, he loses it soon, without quite noticing. That adds to the fact that this non-standard structure has worked its into being accepted, and that the standard one is beginning to be seen as solely literal.
This is interesting because this is not the case in Spanish. In this language, one finds too the syncopated forms of the verb «estar», in pretty much the same way: with «es-» removed. However, here, it is socially disregarded. One will find people who say «toy, tás, tá» for standard «estoy, estás, está», but will be socially marked. While in Portuguese songs, particularly from Brazil, I find all the time «tô» for «estou», I have never found so in Spanish ones, «toy» for «estoy». In Spanish, this same scheme might be accepted in certain regions, enclaves where it is used. But outside there, it will have a taste of regional and sub-standard, or even, ignorant and rural. When it is indeed used in the Spanish media, it is done so to get some sort comical effect, having myself seen it only in jokes. In other words, it cannot be denied that these are indeed used, but they are quite stigmatised. From Brazil, I have seen ad campaigns having a slogan with a variation of this non-standard practice. In the news from Portugal, I once saw a quotation from a political mandatary where he actually used «tou» for «estou». In Spanish, I am yet to experience something like that, either in advertisements or any media.
The very same could be said for the non-standard 'literal' form of «para»: «pra» (for, to). The Spanish equivalent of this would be «pa», short for «para». Again, this might used, in Spanish, in informal situations, but it is, again, socially disregarded. No one on a television broadcast will say it, unless it is a comedy one, or in soap operas, to give someone an air of being from a rural area. However, in both Portugal and Brazil, «pra» has replaced «para» in the spoken language, and is socially accepted in all registers, except in very formal ones. In Portugal one finds the variant «pa» in the north, just like in Spanish, which has the same status there as «pra»; outside of there, it is considered a regionalism.
It is interesting to see how these two paradigms have developed in both languages: Spanish and Portuguese. It would be fair to say that the 'non-standard' forms for «para» and the verb «estar» have become now the 'standard', and what is considered as 'standard' nowadays has, in reality, obtained a purely literal status in these two cases.