Instant Messaging and the Future of Language

References

Baron, N. S. (2005). Instant Messaging and the Future of Language. Communications Of The ACM, 48(7), 29-31.

 

Instant Messaging and the Future of Language

 

In this viewpoint article written by Naomi S. Baron, she conveys the idea that writing has evolved eventually into this new modern age era of IM'ing, texting, and other forms of computer-mediated communication.  She questions whether this era is degrading the language.  Her comparisons of time periods throughout history outlines how written English has evolved.  The shape of written language has always been as much a product of social attitudes and educational values as of technological developments.  I believe, as time has gone by through the centuries and the styles of writing have changed during those times, each generation has left their own upgraded version of a newer writing style.  I feel IM'ing is no different.  I believe that as we are thinking and communicating through a medium such as a computer, cell phone, tablet, and/or whatever medium we choose, we are exercising our minds and making an effort to communicate through our words.  Our words are in a form of writing; therefore that written language is forever engraved into that medium.  I think there is just as much meaning in a few words today describing the very same thing that was written hundreds of years ago, that may have been written on several pages, but still convey the same feeling.  Our world has changed so much with automation that it allows us to get right to the point and convey our message just as effectively.  I think it's wonderful that young people use these various forms of mediums as communication because it shows that they can indeed read and write.  How they choose to express themselves, through any medium, should be encouraged to ensure they develop, learn, and grow their writing skills naturally.  Giving them the freedom to express themselves in any writing medium is a good thing.  I would be more worried if they chose not to write at all and had no sense or caring of the world around them.  I would hope they would care.

 

 

The Flight From Conversation

In the New York Times article by Sherry Turtle called "The Flight From Conversation", the author conveys that even though we live in a technological universe where we are always communicating, we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.  She uses many examples showing this phenomenon.  We now live in a society where we can choose to pay attention to only what interests us. All the physical face-to-face interaction has become less and less.  We are "plugging" in/out of life and she gives us many examples of situations nowadays that show this happening.  Our obsession with technology has changed how we converse with one another virtually rather than physically.

As much as I'd like to acknowledge that the author is right, by my own experience with technology I cannot say that in my own life that this is true.  She states the following opinion in her article: We are tempted to think that our little "sips" of online connection add up to a big gulp of real conversation.  but they don't.  Email, Twitter, Facebook, all of these places - in politics, commerce, romance and friendship.  but no matter how valuable, they do not substitute for conversation.  I completely disagree with this statement.  Sixteen years ago I met my husband online via a chat room.  We now have been happily married for over 15 years!  Because of the way we met we were able to make a real connection and really get to know each other.  Even at the same time, I had been dating two guys in person and still did not get the same connection with them as I did with my new boyfriend online at the time.  Because of our chance encounter online and the chance to get to know each other, I know emphatically that the power of technology did in fact contribute to the conversation we developed and was indeed more than a mere connection.  It was through the power of connecting with each other through our online conversations in the chat rooms and the emails that would follow us in the off hours, we instantly had a great connection.  So much so that it far exceeded that to those gentlemen that I knew in person first.  We could be real and honest online.  When those that date in person for the first time, one can get infatuated with the look or antics of their dating partner.  This could affect whether you choose to get to know the person furthermore.  However, because you may not have taken the time to further develop the relationship because perhaps the person was not good looking enough, you may never know what you let get away.  I feel people tend to be their real selves online.  Whether is through a post on Facebook, a "tweet" from twitter, or a simple email exchange between two people there is always a true sense of what you are feeling.  It is true, people can lie and make you believe they aren't what they type of themselves, but the same happens in real life interactions in person too.  This new world of virtual connecting allows us to be more real.  We may say and think things outloud we may not do otherwise. 

Right to Remain Silent....or not

In the podcast on This American Life "Right to Remain Silent" describing Joe Lipari's experience after posting a Facebook status gone wrong the author shows that sometimes some people will never change, or feel the need to change because of their actions.

Joe Lipari is 34 years old and was born in Passaic, New Jersey.  It is well known that most people from his parts are more mouthy than most other people.  It has started at a young age and he was even thrown out of school for cussing at a nun.  He even mentions with that experience how ironic it was because they were supposed to be forgiving.  In another example, he talks about his experience in the military and how he did talk back to his drill sergeant.  However, he justified it this time because the drill sergeant was telling him to cut his sideburns.  Joe recited to the drill sergeant the military's regulations on sideburns from memory.  Joe was indeed correct. This give us an indication that Joe is not the type of person that backs down from conflict.  Even as he is faced with the consequences he will continue to fight back.

In September of 2009 Joe purchased his first IPhone.  Like the rest of his friends, he thought it would be cool to own one.  The joy of owning one did not last long, it did not work right away.  He then made an appointment and they supposedly fixed it.  The next day, the phone did not work again.  Joe went down to the Apple Store after work.  They told him it would be a two hour wait since he did not have an appointment.  Even after 2 hours, they informed it would still be another two hours of waiting.  He got mad and left the Apple Store.  It was the ramifications of what he was about to do next that got him into a whole lot of trouble. Joe was still pretty mad and matter didn't help any as he proceeded to smoke pot and watch the movie "Fight Club" while perusing Facebook at the same time.  Once a scene from the movie popped up, it inspired Joe to post a status to his Facebook.  The content of the status was the following,

"Joe Lipari might walk into it Apple Store on Fifth Avenue with an ArmaLite AR-10 gas-powered semiautomatic weapon and pump round after round into one of those smug, fruity little concierges. This may be someone you've known for years, someone very, very close to you."

It wasn't too long after he posted this on Facebook that the cops showed up on his doorstep.  They searched his apartment and noticed that he was still high from smoking pot.  This did not help his situation.  He was told he was going downtown for questioning by Homeland Security. 

Facebook Friends - how to control this chaotic friend's list

The comic I chose was a man waking up the next morning looking at his laptop and seeing that he gained 30 more friends on Facebook overnight.  Obviously, this individual may have been drunk the night before while on Facebook and did not recall what he had done.

Facebook is a phenomenon that is unlike anything else out there in history.  It's immediate response and chance to connect instantly, which is too easy and scary.  I use Facebook on a daily basis and had to become very selective about what image I want to convey to my Facebook audience.  I've tried to just keep it to family and close friends, but slowly but surely fellow co-workers, old bosses, and students of mine keep popping up with requests.  Eventually I break down and add them into my friends' lists.  When I saw the above cartoon, it made me crack up because I literally have turned around after a few weeks and gawked at my account when I realized that the 200 friends I thought I had was really like 300.  Keeping this list down has been a challenge.

This whole Facebook thing has presented me with a challenge of how I relate to people, especially those that I never really considered a part of my life.  I have former co-workers that I dropped because I felt enough time had done by that their usefulness may have expired.  However, sometimes I receive a message back inquiring why I deleted this from my friends list and they would like to be added again.  It is very awkward.  There is no way to avoid these conversations and all the sudden now I don't really like this bold, too automatic intrusive new social tool.  It's a bit ridiculous.  Now, I am having to justify to my current bosses why I don't make it a habit to have my bosses on my Facebook.  However, I still have my old bosses that I have added after I left that job.  What is really appropriate when dealing with former bosses?  There should be some type of etiquette on how we use Facebook with the various types of categorizations of people in our lives. 

Combing through my friends list and having to make tough choices on which friends stays and which ones go.  It's an awful predicament.  There have been a few times when I thankfully got rid of someone whom was annoying.  They post constantly to Facebook with random, scary thoughts that make you see them in a light that perhaps is not flattering.  A close family friend who was a former babysitter of mine had lost her mother a few years ago, whom was a close friend of my father.  One good example was with a former babysitter of mine.  She was a close family friend.  However, a few years ago her mother passed away.  Her mother was a very dear friend of my father.  The death of her mother led to many personal problems including: divorce, alcoholism, and other issues that contributed to her downfall.  It was apparent she was a bit unstable, to say in the least.  Her constant rants and statuses on Facebook concerned me.  After reading one of her posts, I would be call my mother and ask her what an earth was this all about?  I finally had to drop her because it was so emotionally exhausting to read her crazy statuses and commentsbvious life failures that I couldn't take it anymore.  Others in my family did the same too.  Finally peace again.  She has tried to add me back a few times since, I have "ignored" these requests.  My mother was not so lucky and felt guilty and added her back again.  I hear it's more of the same again and now my mother is regretting once again this addition to her friend's list.

The introduction of Social Media has changed how we communicate with each other forever.  Gone are the days of phone calls and writing letters.  Even writing an email is not the norm anymore. How we relate to each other now is very odd if you compared our social skills from 20 years ago.