Many forms of media have emerged over the decades. Some die while others stay and thrive. Over the past few years, a sensational digitalized type of media has loomed into the modern world; it is called the new media. Although new media has beneficiated society with rapid access to information and easier communication, it has also enclosed the public within the world by making them vulnerable to ignorance and disunion. Media commentator Sherry Turkle gives an example of the damages new media can cause through her book excerpt “Connectivity and its Discontents”, and author Dallas Spires who also gives an exemplary of this case through her essay “Will Text Messaging Destroy the English Language?”. With all the popularity and misuse society has …show more content…
Through the decades, languages have been altered, becoming more understandable to new generations. But this new written language that has arisen, is only comprehensible to those who “have a good understanding of syntax and grammar already” (Spires, 124). As explained by Dallas Spires, text messaging “uses different grammatical standards and many abbreviations…spelling is ignored…and verbs are not conjugated” (124). This form of media is used within an exclusive audience-mostly teens and young adults to communicate their thoughts and ideas with ease. Many people fear that this new form of written English replaces current modern English. If the mistreat of written English continues, a new form of incoherent and unconstrained language will be created for upcoming generations. The new media is making society commit these grammatical errors in the English language to simplify ideas. Using improper grammar through new media is becoming a crummy habit that will pass on from generation to generation if is not regulated or put to an …show more content…
In the excerpt “Connectivity and its Discontents”, Turkle writes another encounter with a young American lawyer named Randy. Randy resides in California alone and all his family is living in New York. A few days before departing to New York, his sister Nora made the announcement of her engagement and wedding date by sending an email to a list of friends and family, including Randy. Randy protested the way his sister used new media to inform him about this intimate joyous event, instead of calling or telling him personally. When Turkle spoke to Randy, he said “It doesn’t feel right that she didn’t call…when I told her I was upset… [Nora] said that she and her fiancée just wanted to do things simply, as simply as possible. I feel very far away from her” (193). Although Randy was very affected by the way this new media kind of isolated him from his family, he is also a frequent new media user. During their conversation, Randy could not let go his attention off his blackberry. She states “He holds it in his hand during our entire conversation. Once, he puts it in his pocket. A few moments later, it comes out, fingered like a talisman” (193). The twist here is very paradoxical because of Randy complaining about this new media affecting his sister but is affecting him as well. Some people realize the changes new media has done to society but naively do not know they are a victim as well, making them
Text messaging is a technology that contributes to the great decline of the English language. The English language is often butchered through the use of text messaging. In Orwell’s essay, he states “An effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form” (446). Main stream society is too lazy to correct any grammar and punctuation in a text message, leading to the assumption that it is not important, after all it is only a text message. Thus, this shows the English language is in decline, when society is to lazy to take a few extra second to correct spelling and punctuation errors . One would not be able to write the same way in an academic essay as they would in a text message. If one would do so, that student would receive an F. No English teacher, or for that matter any teacher, would be thrilled nor impressed reading an essay filled with these common texting erors.
Is texting killing the way human beings communicate socially to each other. Is texting ruining language as we know it today. These are questions we are asking ourselves today. In the video John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!! and the article Is text messaging ruining English? by Jane Solomon Explores how the English language is being changed by the teenage population.
Turkle’s stance on this topic is emotionally engaging as she uses rhetoric in a very powerful approach, while also remaining unbiased. The article flows very smoothly in a beautifully structured format. The author maintains a composition that would appeal to the interest of any sort of audience. She effectively questions the reader’s views on the negative consequences technology has on social interactions. Her work is inspiring, it sheds light on the dark hole society has dug for themselves, a state of isolation through communication in the digital age; this is a wake up
As we keep emerging into the future, we tend to depend more on communication to an extent that it is not a “part” of our lives anymore; it’s one of the requirements of survival. It is nearly impossible to function as an employee, a student, or an individual without the basic forms of communications. In today’s world, a person’s “contact number” is like a virtual ID or a national security number that happens to be taken into account internationally. Not only that, but television and sources of news are becoming more and more appealing for viewers as they become more integrated with internet. If not television, then mobile is definitely becoming the biggest source of mass media. Even when individuals don’t look for sources of media and news, news tend
As you walk around just take the second to notice that almost everyone you passed is quickly twiddling their thumbs across their phone screen. Ding. Someone’s iPhone just received a new text, two-seconds later, Swoosh. Did you figure out what the New Age English Language is yet? Yes, you are correct, texting. Since the first text message was set on December 3, 1992, our english language has been growing and evolving and it not stopping yet. Critics will claim that texting is destroy our english language as a whole. These critics do not understand that texting has formed from our modern day english. When thinking of texting, many fail to see that texting has become one of the newest form of the english language. In order to have a successful educational experience, one must be able to incorporate the benefits of texting which include having a strong understanding of grammar
Text messaging has become a norm in our generation, as technology rapidly advances and gives way to more efficient forms of communication in a fast-paced world; and many are skeptical about the influence this new form of interaction is having on our society, especially with our younger generation. David Crystal, a professor at the University of Wales, writes “2b or Not 2b?” in support of text messaging. He insists, despite those who underestimate or negate the beneficial influence text messaging has on language proficiency, that “there is increasing evidence that [texting] helps rather than hinders literacy” and that the fairly recent form of communication has actually been around for a while and “is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adopt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In contrast, Jeffery Kluger argues in “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging” that text messaging is rapidly becoming a substitute for more genuine forms of communication and is resulting in difficulty among young peoples of our generation to hold a face-to-face conversation, engage in significant nonverbal expression, and ultimately build effective relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Both writers’ present valid arguments, however, my personal experience with text messaging has led me to agree more with Crystal’s view on the matter. Text messaging is indeed having a positive effect on society by making frequent texters primarily aware of the need to be understood, as well as offering betterment of spelling and writing through practice, and reinventing and expanding on a bygone dimension of our language through the use of rebuses and abbreviations.
One reason why texting has a major negative impact on teens is because it messes up their writing skills. Instead of teenagers applying correct grammar, they apply words that are not real, for example language shortcuts. In the passage, “Text-Speak Is Harming Teens’ Writing Skills,” it says, “ “[It] may rob this age group of a fundamental understanding of standard English grammar.”” The explanation
In 1999, people could start sending text messages to other people. With different networks to their own, life became easier because of text messaging users. Soon later, English language became known as ‘text speak’, a way we write now by abbreviating long and big words. This is causing teens to lose the ability to learn how to spell and read. Now that text messaging allows kids to abbreviate, kids are now failing school classes by abbreviating in their school work (Cooke).
Texting, techspeak, and tweens: The relationship between text messaging and English grammar skills by Drew P. Cingel and S. Shyam Sundar (2012), is an article that discusses the connection between text messaging in adolescents and poor English grammar skills (Cingel & Sundar, 2012). Cingel started the study as a student investigating the effect of texting on grammar skills, after receiving text messages from his nieces, which were incomprehensible. (2012, July 26). Cingel combined with S. Shyam Sundar, a distinguished Professor of Communication and Co-director of the Penn State Media Effects Research Laboratory. The journal is ranked internationally and peer-reviewed, and is a seminal source that has contributed strongly to its’ field. These findings contribute significantly to the body of knowledge in terms of data and practical application. Demonstrated within this journal is a suitable methodology, a strong argument with reliable evidence, and a relevant writing style and structure.
In the sources that I found about text message and teen literacy, it showed and also informed me on how teens take the next talk to the classrooms in schools and how it creates bad grammar among themselves. During my research I found out that many kids and kids use shorthanded text and it affects their literacy in so many ways. We as teens don’t think that our findings will benefit anyone unless they want to have a short knowledge in grammar. As teens we don’t really see how doing something wrong can harm us. Such as texting shorthanded, and with silly faces. It affects our literacy by not knowing how to correctly punctuate their words, grammar and speaking. In the research that I looked up, that teens send about one thousand eight hundred
“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features.” (James Surowiecki) Whether or not is known, technology has become too heavily relied on. It is replacing important social factors such as, life skills and communication skills. While technology is created to be beneficial, there must be a point in time where we draw the line. Once face-to-face conversations begin to extinguish, this means that there is too much focus on the “screen culture”. In her writing, “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle talks
Since the advent in the early 2000’s, texting has had negative affect on today’s language skills. Social isolation isn’t the only phenomenon accompanying the era of texting and social media, being able to spell and speak proficiently is a skill that is slowly dissipating with each passing generation. As auto correct and word shortcuts become available and instantaneous, our need to learn how to spell and use words correctly becomes irrelevant.
With the development of science and technology, the new technology broadens people’s vision and has greatly facilitated people's lives. It is commonly believed that the advanced science and technology add much flavor to people's daily life. More and more people deem that social media play an increasingly important role, which cannot be ignored, in people’s social life and work in the 21st century. Because of that, many people would like to keep abreast with the latest development of the new technology. However, from another perspective, we cannot ignore the negative effects new medias bring to some extent. Sherry Turkle, the professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hold different attitudes towards this issue. In her newest book Alone Together, Turkle explores how communication technology is changing who we are. This phenomenon social media technology brings to people exists for a number of reasons. She argues convincingly about the personal destruction resulting from our growing dependence on it.
Smartphones and social media are drugs to people. Call them phone addicts. Phone addicts are the ones that wake up in the morning and check their social media or they cannot simply live without their phones. In the New York Times, author Sherry Turkle compares how people’s communications changed from face-to-face talk to smartphone talk. People became too dependent using their smartphones and social media to communicate to the outside world. She also sees how this impacts the younger generation communication with others. Verbal communication became harder for people to do due to smartphones and social media. Health is becoming an issue to smartphones users. People started to have neck, fingers, and vision problems. Smartphones are cancerous
The influence of rapidly growing social media, television, and the internet has taken the world by storm in recent years. Its fascinating development over the years is nothing short of remarkable when you take into account that 20 years ago, only 16 million people in the world were "online", compared to the 2 billion that roam on the internet now. Modern communications technology has now become so familiar and utterly banal, yet there is still this tingling sensation when one receives a text from a love interest on Facebook or WhatsApp. Human identity, the idea that defines each and every one of us, is on the verge of being radically defined by social media. This essay will provide a balanced outlook on the positive and negative effects that social media have had on the behaviour and thinking on humans. The topic is a very controversial one, but the purpose of this is to help readers formulate a view on whether the arguments in this essay benefit society in general, or whether they harm the well-being of the human brain and detach us from reality.