Thursday, December 29, 2011
Does New Media Corrupt Communication or Does It Help?
Through out break I have been noticed that many people have been very close with iPod touches, cell phones, iPad's and other electronics that they have gotten for Christmas, or they have already had. Before break started our class answered a few questions about language and what corrupts it. One question was "does new media corrupt communication or does it help shape communication and culture?" When I answered this question a few weeks ago before break I thought that it did corrupt communication. Reasons like students would type with text talk like 'u, i, ur, idk, etc' in an essay and other reasons also. But tonight I went to get my haircut and my hairdresser told me that her 5 year old daughter got an iPod touch for Christmas along with her other 5 year old son and her 8 year old son. While I was shocked that kids would be getting electronics like this at such a young age, she told me that the iPod touch is actually being beneficial for them. She told me that she downloaded some texting app for her kids, and she said that her daughter uses it to remember spelling words. She would type down the word and send it to her mom and then ask if the word was spelled right. I thought that was very creative and a very unusual way to learn how to spell because like I said before, most kids when they text, type the shortest amount of characters in a text message as possible, but this young child is using it to help her spell. So while I thought that new media like texting can corrupt communication, it can also be beneficial in the example of the little girl.
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I disagree with Mel (to a degree) about how our generation has corrupted communication with "u" and "idk" etc. I feel that while an English teacher or professor might say that the language of new media has corrupted language, our generation can argue that it has been beneficial. This new language has allowed our generation to communicate much more quickly in several regards. (texting, social media, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThere are times when in person when it is not quicker to say "btw" versus saying "by the way". This as well as if someone starting writing "u" in their papers for school are example of new media corrupting communication. However, I believe there can be a positive impact in this new language also.
I think you're both right. language of new media is a different dialect than some people are used to. it can hinder communication between generations somewhat, however it has also enhanced cultural integration because of the speed at which two people of very different backrounds, cultures and languages can relate to each other from far away. It's a give and take. should this new media language completely take the place of the established, more formal means of communication(one that actually inludes punctuation)? I vote no, but its an important means of communication without which the world wouldn't be the same.
ReplyDeleteI feel like new media hasn't really corrupted anything. While people do communicate quickly and breifly through txt with "idk's" and everything else, it is regularly reserved for that purpose: brief communication. Still in essays we write the regular way because there is the place for that. So while there are these two different sides, almost like an on, off switch for different ways of communicating, new media has created an area of its own. Formal writing will always remain. New media has just made our spell checking lives harder and that's it. We still talk to eachother the same, that hasn't truly changed all that much.
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