A World That Revolves Around Technology Next time you go somewhere in public, take a moment to observe the people around you. What do you see? We live in a society that continues to rapidly grow in the use of technology, such as cell phones. A cell phone can be looked at as an essential device that helps others communicate in a fast and easy way by sending a text message to another person. According to the dictionary, a text message is “an electronic message sent over a cellular network from one cell phone to another by typing words, often in shortened form, as “l8t” for “late”, on the phone 's numeric or QWERTY keypad.” Have you ever heard the phrase, “Things are not always what they appear”? Many defend the idea that texting can be portrayed as a faster solution when it comes to communicating with another individual; however, if you analyze the lasting effects it has on a person, they can be seen as detrimental to oneself. I speculate that if society keeps on allowing our generation to promote the utilization of cell phones as a way of communication, then there will be negative long term effects that will continue to arise, such as lower literacy rates, lack of communication skills, and increasing death rates as a result of being distracted. Texting has become its own style of writing nowadays. Every text message sent is negatively impacting the literacy rate due to all of the abbreviations our generation has created and the autocorrect feature on almost
Randy Cohen wrote When Texting Is Wrong and published it in The New York Times on July 13, 2009. The article talks about how no one ever agreed to the new age of technology that fell upon the world but instead adapted to it. This is in fact what has happened to the world. Technology has taken over, and people of all ages have had to adapt to the new time period that we have fallen in; however, not all are very fond of the era. It is evident in society that younger and older generations have differing views on technology, cell phones especially. While the younger generation is fine with the world being taken over by computers and cell phones, the older generation is a little more apprehensive about it. Although Cohen is not anti-texting or anti-technology, he explains to parents and bosses, or people of influence, that new manners need to be introduced in everyday life (at home and at work ) as an effort to reduce the impact of emerging technology.
In the article “2b or not 2b”, David Crystal begins with discussing how others such as John Humphry argued that texters are “vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbors 800 years ago. They are destroying it” (335). This is also the common belief of most people. People often argue about the bad points of technology over our language. However, Crystal believes that texting can improve children’s ability to read and write rather than hinder their literacy as many people claim. He also argues that not all texting are done in abbreviated words. Complex messages and institutional messages are often texted in standard form of
“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
Texting is harming the ability for this current generation of children to write in a formal manner. “Digitalk” is what Kristen Hawley Turner of Fordham University calls, text-speak.For example, many teens will text “g2g” in replace of the actual words “got to go”.In my opinion, texting is ruining students’ abilities to write a formal essay,letter,etc.
We as a society are evolving with each generation to come. We are getting stronger, faster, and smarter. Just as cell phones are no longer square blocks with numbers on them and TV’s are not in black and white, writing itself has also evolved. Once upon a time many wrote and spoke in a Shakespearean form of language and over the years it has evolved into something we call modern English. In recent years, technology has advanced greatly and cell phones have become one of our primary use of communication. With cell phones came a new form of writing called text messaging. Text messaging is used to send short, concise messages to anyone around the world. Often times text messages involve the use of abbreviations which stand for different things and also involves frequent use of emoji’s as a form of expression. This form of writing is now considered informal writing and is not acceptable in academic settings. In Michaela Cullington’s essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” she touches on both sides of whether texting is hindering students writing or if it’s actually having a positive effect. She then makes is clear that she believes most students are educated enough to know when text speak is appropriate and when it’s not so therefore it has no effect on students. Although, I agree with her thesis, she lacks credibility due to her insufficient evidence. In addition, I also believe
After reading Texting and Writing, by Michaela Cullington, I do not agree with many of her viewpoints. Cullington argues that texting does not affect a students writing. Textspeak, the abbreviation and shortening of words like used when writing a text message, does affect the way a student writes because they use the abbreviations, and their writings tend to lack punctuation. When a writer uses excessive abbreviations on a regular basis they can get stuck in the writer’s head causing them to use them in all of their writings. Cullington did make good points of her own opinion on texting and writing in her piece, but I disagree with her and believe that texting and
Instant gratification has become the social norm in this generation but is diminishing the quality of communication. Cell phones have changed massively in the past few years, making communication weaken each time cell phones are updated. At first, cell phones were just used for calling. Calling was the only operation that they were capable of and most of the time calling was not even convenient on a cell phone. Although the concept of texting has been out for decades, actual texting became available to all society in 1994 (Turrettini). Texting instantly
Texting has become a common way of communicating between peers. It isn’t just used to chat with your friends, it has also become essential in the workplace, creating a bigger connection between work and your personal life. An article was published on The Liberal on the risks of texting, but I actually believe texting is great for us. It has made communication easier and its negative impacts are very avoidable. The risks mentioned in the article are the driving impairments, the physical injuries, and the effect it can have on your grammar. Although these risks seem dangerous, they can be avoided easily.
Cell phones are affecting the lives of people in a negative way. People have begun to rely solely on the technology that has been created rather than picking up a book or finding answers the old-fashioned way. A major issue that has occurred because of cell phones is the lack of social skills in most nearly all individuals. Cell phones have greatly shaped society and destroyed face to face social skills. People pick up their phones and send a text rather than going to speak to a person. “According to an article in the Huffington Post, children do not know how to handle face-to-face conflict because so much of their interactions occur through some sort of technology…. Cell phones are now preventing these social skills from being taught because children are too caught up in technology than the real world.”(Hyman) When growing up, most children are taught how to make friends, but now children are growing up with the access to technology which has a great impact in shaping the social skills of children. “Young adults also use text messaging as their primary method of contacting friends – over 80 percent report texting as their preferred method.”(Voegeli). Young adults and even older adults have developed an addiction to their cell phone. Cell phones do make it easier to contact people, but they make social skills in individuals dissipate. People are attached to their phones like it is a part of their body. Technology like the cell phone has taken a toll on everyday life events. People cannot even sit in a room with their family without being on their phones. In most cases, they would rather text one another instead of having a conversation. Society needs to
Katie Hafner’s article, “Texting May Be Taking a Toll,” displays that the rising number of texts sent by adolescents day in and day out is starting to take a big toll on them, their lifestyle, and the people around them. To start off, in the first part of the article Hafner expresses that the point of the first section is that with a growing number of young people utilizing texting and using it nonstop texting is causing serious issues such as anxiety, failing grades, distraction in school, sleep issues and many others. The author exclaims in the section that, “The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.”
Is texting such a horrible thing or does it actually have its benefits? Does it cause one to be illiterate? Do you get lower grades in school because you text? Many people have different ideas and opinions when it comes to texting. In the essay “ 2b or Not 2b, by David Crystal, texting is talked about as being helpful and created for a specific purpose. Specifically, Crystal responds to the claim that reporter John Humphrys makes, “texters are vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbors 800 years ago”. Then, on the other hand you have Sylvia E. Mc Donald, who argues that texting while in class causes one to have lower grades and this could predict how they are in their future.
Texting does have a tremendous impact on formal writing. Texting has its downfalls and benefits. New technology had a huge impact on society education and communication
The subject of how technology is changing written English is a touchy subject; many people believe that our current technology is allowing us to become lazy. Text messaging being the ultimate reason we are taking so many short cuts when it comes to writing proper English. There are so many abbreviated words and meanings in text messaging, I sometimes find myself confused when I receive messages from people that I have to google what they are trying to say. I don’t want to respond and assume I know what they are trying say.
Though the power of text messaging has many benefits to it, the misuse of this technology can cause serious problems for society. With the ability to communicate instantaneously on a mobile device, society focuses more and more on their
We use abbreviations and emoji’s to get our point across. As college students we send so many texting messages that we do not realize that we hold on to those habits of using incorrect spelling and full sentences. Using this way of communication so often has caused college students to carry it over to formal writing projects. Texting is another form of writing, some would believe that it will help with our writing skills but at the same time it making us lose our depth when it comes to writing. Students don’t use a much detail when it comes to writing papers. Grammar gets affected and we get in the habit of abbreviating our words which do not help enhance our writing at all. This articles just goes through saying that texting reflects on a lot more than just students language skills.