Texting Taking Over
In our world there are many forms of communication and these devices are beginning to take a toll on our younger generations. In Jeffery Kluger’s article,” We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging,” the idea that younger generations are becoming socially inept due to technology is discussed. As these younger generations consume texting as a main form of communication other important social skills deteriate.
This new generation, or the millennial generation, consumes the Internet every single day of their lives and it is starting to show mainly in their interpersonal skills. According to Kluger's article, teens receive an average of 88 messages per day compared to only 14 to 17 phone calls. Sherry Terkel, a
Many of these generations are now adults therefor their communicating skills have fully developed, whereas, generation millennia are still young and their brains are still developing the necessary communicating skills that will be useful in the future for job skills and basic social interactions. Kluger admits, “When I absolutely must, I take the call, but I don’t do a very good job of concealing my displeasure,” This is an example of how older generations are becoming less and less inept to the use of technology but rather embracing it a little too much. For example, if you are to call a microwave Jenna ration person they are as likely to pick up the phone as a generation X but if you were to text a generation X they are more likely to call you back instead of text back. This is because the microwave generation has both in a personal and technological skills whereas generation X mainly has interpersonal skills rather than the technological skills then you have the flipside where the millennial has neither of these because they grew up attached to
However, there are some great disadvantages that come along with it. Kluger states in his article again that millennial generation members are missing out on intrapersonal visual cues that can form lasting relations just like with reading it takes time and effort to build the necessary skills to interpret what is being stated and what is being implied. This causes ignorance and a separation between generations.
Many movies recently have been portraying the abuse of technology as a form of bullying. You can simply hide behind a screen. Turkle warns that too much texting can lead to generations that hide behind screens and become completely isolated. As technology advances the world becomes less social and more sheltered behind screens. When texting becomes a main source of communication there can words that are lost in transition. People will often take your words and contort them to make it either sound better or worse depending on the topic of conversation. These twisted words can be used against you and make you look extremely different than what you wanted. In today’s world we hide behind screens and spew things from our mouths that we would never actually say to someone in person. We will attack each other for the pettiest things in this world. We will expose things that are better off being private. We will humiliate others just so we may feel better, temporarily. We will ruin relationships
Generation X has formed a strong opinion about Generation Y over the years, claiming that millennials are the laziest generation in history. Technology is said to be a major factor in making life more convenient for millennials, which according the Generation
Texting however keeps people at arm’s length and prevents relationships from getting past a certain level of rapport. Text messages help people create distance between them and another person. This distance can lead to many things, like lost friendship. Friendships can be lost in text messages because of tone. I was texting my sister one day, who types in all capital letters, and finally halfway through the conversation I asked her why she was yelling at me, because that is how I was reading them, as me being yelled at. When she responded she was very confused, and told me that she didn’t realize that she had been yelling at me and was sorry. This can happen to anybody. People can confuse tone in text messages, and that can lead to one person arguing with someone who has no idea that they are in a fight. Text messages are also used by people to purposely keep others away from them, and by some it is used to hide. Alice G Walton, a science journalist with a Ph.D. in Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience says, “People like to text because the message gives them the ability to hide,” (Walton). It is like the saying “a drunken mind speaks a sober heart,” When people are drunk they hide behind being it, and use alcohol as their mask, but when they are texting, it’s the phone. They are able to say what they would like, without having to actually face the person they are talking to, and
She argues, “Now I suggest that the culture in which they develop tempts them into narcissistic ways of relating to the world” (244). The author argues that the society in which young adults grow up, reflects on their view of the world. Growing up in a technologically advanced society, teens seem ill prepared to deal with their day to day surroundings that require social interaction. Many millennials show little interest in anything dealing in the past. Instead, they are focused on the future and the next great technological advancement. Lastly, at the end of her essay, Turkle expresses the true social issues of teens due to the abundance of technology. She claims, “teenagers who will only ‘speak’ online, who rigorously avoid face-to-face encounters, who are in text connect with their parents fifteen or twenty times a day, who deem even a telephone call ‘too much’ (243). Turkle claims that there are consequences resulting on the heavy reliance of technology. Teens only speak over text and cannot even speak on the telephone, because they are too internal. Rather than speaking externally with others, teens are quiet while only communicating with themselves and over the phone. They would rather write words, than speak them. This is creating a generation of young adults who are not comfortable in normal social
Although Though technology can be good, it can be worse than good, such as people always with their faces on their phones and headphones in their ears, people neglecting books and using more online text, and people wasting their lives watching TV.Children now know how to use a phone faster than they can
“Our generation doesn't ring the doorbell. They text or call to say they're outside,” this line is from one of the well-known social networks, Tweeter, which shows how the way of communication has change in this modern life. According to 2013 statistics by Business Insider, in United States alone, smartphone owners aged 18 to 24 send 2,022 texts per month on average — 67 texts on a daily basis — and receive another 1,831 texts (Cocotas). Nowadays, technology such as text messaging has practically replaced traditional face to face communication among the society primarily in young generations because texting allows messages to be sent fast and effortless. In order to quickly type what they are trying to say in text messaging, people are frequently using textspeak; the language created by using abbreviation rather than complete words. Based on this phenomenon, David Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales has published an article entitled ‘2b or not 2b?’ in the Guardian on July 5, 2008 comes out with the research and studies that state texting can actually improve the literacy of children and create creativity of writing. However, by observing more critically, texting do decrease a person’s ability to switch between textspeak and the normal rules of grammar and adversely affect formal writing and conversational skills.
As might be expected, the millennial generations as a whole are passionate about the technological and communication advances in the past decade with the internet and social media. “A new Pew Internet Project report reveals that 93% of young adult’s ages 18‐29 are online” (Andrew January 14 to 27, 2010). This allows access for marketer’s access to the generation in a different way than previous generations.
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.
I find it disconcerting that teens live much of their lives in a virtual society. “Growing Up Online”, barely scratches the surface of the breadth and depth to which technology permeates modern society. Teens continue to struggle for independence and self-identification, but with less face-to-face interaction than in the past. Many view e-communication as reaching out to the masses.
Some teens send 2272 texts per month. Kenneth Burke says “Over 560 billion texts are sent every month worldwide and over the years it keeps increasing because technology keeps increasing.” Teens spend the most days on their phones, because technology keeps improving each day. As technology improves teens want to keep up to date with the new technology so they spend their days on their phones.
The Impact of Text Messaging on Teens Literacy If we walk around in any public places, restaurants, or even just in the streets we cannot stop seeing and noticing that most teenagers are holding their phones. We might wonder what are they actually doing with their phones? Would they actually be reading positive influential articles, playing games, checking social media statues accounts, looking at their own pictures, or their peer pictures, or doing the most obvious thing -texting? Most teenagers now are almost inseparable from their cellphones, not because they are constantly talking, or because they are immersed in the Electronically Mediated Communication, but because they are connected with their friends through text messaging. Text messaging
Step onto any college campus and take a look around. You will find clumps of students standing around in circles, phones in hand, typing away. What is it they are doing? Texting. Ever since the first text message was sent in 1993, the use of text messaging as a means of communication has spread like wild fire, especially amongst the adolescent generation. And with this new form of communication a new language has appeared; text-speak, the shortening of common words into abbreviations and acronyms (Drouin 49). While texting and the text-speak language seem to have been welcomed by many, what affect is this new technology having on the way we communicate? Is it possible that texting is negatively affecting our ability to use formal written communication, or is this idea just a myth perpetuated by negative media attention? And what changes has texting brought to the way we communicate person-to person? Are these changes positive, negative, or perhaps a mixture of both?
Social media has taken over the younger generation at a staggering rate. In 2012, 94% of teenagers have reported that they have a Facebook account. They average to have 425 friends as well. (Marketing Land, Greg Sterling p1). These are mind boggling statistics. Social networking has replaced the “face to face” encounters that the generations before had to do if they wanted to talk to their friends or family. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have transformed the way we speak or see our friends, family, and a lot of times strangers that we have never met offline. I've come to realize that kids my age are a lot more shy and not as easy to converse with in person as people our parent's or grandparent's age. That could come from talking behind a computer or a cellular device all the time with texts instead of verbally speaking. The impact of social media is putting a negative effect on the younger generation.
It is interesting to note that an article written in 2003 discussed text messaging as a young adult phenomenon. It addressed the difficulty of older fingers using tiny keyboards (Lacoheé 206). Things have changed. Text messaging is used by young and old alike today. Interestingly, other predictions in the article, which was written over ten years ago, still haven’t happened yet such as video tattoos and smart make-up and perfume (Lacoheé 209).What is clear is that we are living in a world that is ever-changing and with those changes come implications for how we behave as individuals and as a society. Does cell-phone enabled easy access to information on the internet hinder our quest for knowledge or enhance it? In our schools, does it make our students lazy or more efficient? Does our ability to bury ourselves in our phones enhance our communication with each other or isolate ourselves from each other? Whether we consider our “advances” in mobile technology as steps forward or steps back still remains to be
Text messaging is damaging our literacy and communication skills as a society. Calling someone on the phone or writing them a letter is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. There is a new language that is being learned and not taught across the globe. It is the language of Textese, and it has quickly consumed the lives of millions across the world. There will always be the protector of language arts. These are the shrinking number of people everyone knows, that will continue to handwrite letters and sign them with proper English and etiquette. It may be as simple as picking up the phone and calling a friend or relative. It may be even simpler than that, in that people put forth an effort to talk to the person sitting next to or across from you and engage them in a conversation. Texting and textisms have become so common and widespread that using proper English, correct spelling, and full sentences is also becoming a thing of the past. People that constantly use text and instant messaging may have difficulty with literacy and expressing themselves in writing form. The research shows that text messaging has deteriorated how we communicate and express ourselves because textisms have become an easier and quicker form of communication that has affected literacy in children and adults.
Socializing is not just talking face to face, it’s our ability to interact, learn, and create original thoughts. Technology is hindering today’s youth and their ability to socialize is affecting their capacity to read, write, and communicate. Today’s youth depend on careful considerations for the implementation of technology. Our youth do not have the capability to convey their emotions through the use of technology, understand sadness, happiness or joy through simple text or emails. Communicating through the use of text, chat, and social network sites is lost using abbreviations and slang, inhibiting the use of the Standard English language.