An interesting idea comes from the idea of the Digital Native. It seems quite clear that someone born into the digital/virtual world will have a much different reading and writing style than someone born before such modern digital technology. It seems that many of the newer technologies that digital natives grow up with leave them with a low tolerance for reading books in their entirety. The internet seems to be a big contributor to this low tolerance as much reading on the internet is explained to be quick with lots of distractions. The distractions can be other online articles, advertisements or even a voice telling you that you have new mail.
From “The Theory of the Virtual Class”, the digital natives seem to be described as omniscient in that they know everything, or at least are able to learn about anything at anytime using a quick internet search. The big question seems to be whether or not this ease and convenience to access so much information quickly is making the newer generation dumb.
In addition to reading and writing, the internet also can change the social lives of people. The internet allows you to create a network of friends in cyber space. What is interesting is how the internet seems to be changing our idea of a friend. A long time ago a friend may have been better understood as someone who you were close to both physically and emotionally that you shared thoughts with on a one on one basis. With the internet, a friend seems to include people that an individual has not even met in person.
When people use social internet sites such as facebook, They might write about how their day went. Before this digital technology a person who wanted to share their day might meet a close friend and exchange one on one intimate conversation to explain their day. With social internet sites like facebook, an individual can write about their day and post it for a large number of friends to read. In this case, the writer with the internet does not seem as interested in one particular close friend responding to their description of how their day went rather they want to broadcast it and allow whoever is interested to respond to their post. The writer may find that the cyber responses to their post is sufficient and the need for a close physical friend to share this information with diminishes. Most of this writing that is posted on online social sites is probably quite short, concise and to the point. If an online post was excessively long then it may deter someone from reading it. The act of reading and writing on social internet sites like facebook probably only strengthens the digital native’s lower tolerance to read whole books in their entirety.
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I can’t agree more when you say that the digital technology for this new generation leaves people with a low tolerance for reading books in their entirety. As an educator, and coming from a family of educators, I see this more and more each year. In reading Romano’s, “Will the Book Survive Generation Text?,” I found myself shaking my head in agreement – a lot! I know I’ll be one of those educators who continues to push the reading of an entire novel instead of a single chapter, but my fear is that one day I’ll have to succumb to the modern day approach – and I feel like it will be coming sooner than later.
“The big question seems to be whether or not this ease and convenience to access so much information quickly is making the newer generation dumb.”
Again, like I wrote about in my blog, if elementary education becomes digitalized and studying becomes an activity that is mainly done online, then students will not be getting the same quality education as prior generations. I mean even my elementary education was one notch easier than my previous generation’s education. It looks like as time moves forward our emphasis on education is turning into “making it easier for students and instructors.” I feel there will be a future generation that won’t necessarily be dumb, but will not have the overall knowledge of humanities and classics that we did.
While I share your sentiment, I wonder if what we are all experiencing is just the typical “fear for the sake of future generations.” Doesn’t it seem that every decade or so, there are warnings about the next generation being ruined in some way– whether by rock-and-roll or ipads? To many, we are that “ruined” generation. In general, I don’t feel like technology has changed my potential; it has just changed my approach.
On the other hand, the changes technology has brought about are more profound than any that have come before. For example, today I felt the need to mention to my freshman class the fact that while an “informal letter” uses somewhat informal language, that does not mean “text speak.” This was for good reason–I often find texting language in their essays. Even as I’m aware that language is always in a constant state of change, I cannot bring myself to allow “LOL” or “U” in their essays. Perhaps there has always been an “informal” set of words or a style that sits right outside the margins of whatever is considered true academic writing of the time, and perhaps there has always been professors to warn of the impending dangers of language change. Even so, it seems as though language is changing at a faster rate, maybe due to the proliferation of discourse, and the consequences of this change are not yet fully realized.
I liked how you focused on social media sites. The changes to language and the written word can also be seen through Twitter feeds and status updates. People are able to communicate in real time and this immediacy leads to altered writing. A good example of this would be texts where @TEOTD stands in place of at the end of the day. This restructuring seems to be popular among digital natives, but I wonder if those not of this technological generation become marginalized in an ever increasing digital society?
Tania, I’ve been wondering the same thing lately. As I find myself more and more disenchanted with the strangle-hold that technology seems to have over my life, I keep thinking about wanting to back out of the digital world. However, it is such a prevalent force in our lives now that I’m really not sure it’s possible. If I don’t “keep up with the times,” as it were, how does that affect my ability to relate to my peers? Can an analog girl survive in a digital world? Being in school, it is literally impossible not to use a computer, if only at the most basic level of needing to type my papers. But if, somehow, I could get rid of my laptop, my iPod, my cell phone, even my television… how would I relate to a society of people who interface more with technology than they do with other human beings? When literacy became widespread, it marginalized those who could not read and write, and the same thing is happening now with digital literacy, in my opinion.
Eric, I really agreed with your statement when you said “It seems quite clear that someone born into the digital/virtual world will have a much different reading and writing style than someone born before such modern digital technology.” I wholeheartedly agree! We often see that in today’s wold with technology other than computers too. I work at a store in Sherman Oaks and I run a register. When people purchase something, it is interesting to see their forms of payment. While people 50 and younger have no issue using a machine to swipe their card, I often see people older have trouble using it. They either stumble with which way to put the card, or settle on writing a check. Because of the time this generation is born, we are evermore adapting to technology and have no issues learning a new computer program, using a debit card, or quickly adapting to new technology such as an iPad or a Nook. Because of this, books being turned into something completely different, such as the form of a tangible object.
I agree with the arguement but I have to ask: Is society getting dumb or lazy? I understand that people who are technologically literate vs. those who are not do seem to have a lack of appreciation for writing and reading. People nowadays seem so caught up with youtube and facebook, they seem to forget the value of books, and proper grammar. I blame technology only to the point that people don’t want to take the time to learn from their mistakes. People who use things like word processor are able to have the equivalent of an editor reviewing their paper. This isn’t a bad thing if not pushed to the extreme. Making mistakes or having to take more time to review one’s own paper helps improve the individual’s skills. Mistakes teach people how to grow. If society depends only on technolongy and not themselves then how can we truly evolve as a culture? Working with technology will improve our lives but depending on it could cripple society.That’s why I think we should not view techology as a life line, but more as a tool to aid the individual.