Musings on How We 'Digitally' Communicate
I was voyeuring through 
riverfox's LJ a while back and she had a post talking about the need to use emoticons and the like when posting on the internet .
After reading her comments and the responses I started thinking about how we communicate...in all the various forms. So here is a ramble of random thoughts...and possibly not very well written. *g*
Before the advent of telephone, a main form of social communication was letter writing. I have often read that a well-turned phrase, a play on words or a beautiful hand was a thing to be admired. Fine writing and language skills were a sign of education. Since one could not fall back on body language or tonal inflection, the choice of words was everything. It was not easy to retract a hasty, possibly mis-written word of hurt or anger as once the letter was in the post - it was gone. Taking weeks or months for it to arrive at its destination, the writer was afforded an abundance of time to have a change of heart and possible regret for the ill-written words. As a result, I think much more care was put into written communication.
Then, what I think was possibly the beginning of the end of truly thoughtful daily communication, the telephone was invented. Communication 'sped' up and our word choices seemingly no longer need as much measured consideration as we had aural cues to augment our words. Travel became easier for face-to-face contact so in addition to vocal cues, we now had body language and facial expressions to help express our thoughts or reinforce our verbiage. Television was the thing to become glued to with visuals becoming the dominate form of sensory input...often times at the expense of imagination or just plain old cognitive thought. As a result, we had less verbal and written communication; our skills falling farther by the wayside.
Time to pack up and start the loooong weekend. Wheeeee!
Skipping much farther ahead, the internet and wireless access evolved - once more changing the way we communicate. It seems technology has inadvertently caused us to come full circle with the revival of the written word - communication for the masses in the form of IMs, forums and blogging. We are now buried behind our screens, in front of our keyboards - pecking away in often times garbled, shorthand words. Grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and the ability to express a coherent thought flying out the window...if it was even present to begin with.
Which leads me to this thought. From what I can surmise, writing and verbal skills are not subjects much emphasized in school these days. Case in point: Honeybunny's son, then a recent graduate of a four-year university preceded by twelve years in private grade school, had me review a letter he was going to send out. I was totally abhorred at his poor grammar and sentence structure. While this letter is not completely reflective of his intellect, it was telling about the lack of substantive content in our education system.
Where is all this leading you ask? I'm not really sure. In this very speedy world of ours, maybe we all need to slow down a little bit and reread what we commit to digital paper. Take time to consider how the reader might misconstrue what the writer was trying to express. I'm not saying that snarky, wankage and downright irritation cannot be expressed...I've shared my fair bit, but in the mainstream of daily digital communication, maybe we still need to use smileys, emoticons or take that extra moment to find 'just right word' that will truly convey what we are trying say.
And in closing this meandering missive, I admire writers who are able to articulate an idea, elicit an emotion or just take us on a wild imaginary trip whether it be in the form of a novel, a piece of fanfiction, or something as simple as an LJ entry.
Time to close shop and start the long weekend. Wheeeeee!
riverfox's LJ a while back and she had a post talking about the need to use emoticons and the like when posting on the internet .
After reading her comments and the responses I started thinking about how we communicate...in all the various forms. So here is a ramble of random thoughts...and possibly not very well written. *g*
Before the advent of telephone, a main form of social communication was letter writing. I have often read that a well-turned phrase, a play on words or a beautiful hand was a thing to be admired. Fine writing and language skills were a sign of education. Since one could not fall back on body language or tonal inflection, the choice of words was everything. It was not easy to retract a hasty, possibly mis-written word of hurt or anger as once the letter was in the post - it was gone. Taking weeks or months for it to arrive at its destination, the writer was afforded an abundance of time to have a change of heart and possible regret for the ill-written words. As a result, I think much more care was put into written communication.
Then, what I think was possibly the beginning of the end of truly thoughtful daily communication, the telephone was invented. Communication 'sped' up and our word choices seemingly no longer need as much measured consideration as we had aural cues to augment our words. Travel became easier for face-to-face contact so in addition to vocal cues, we now had body language and facial expressions to help express our thoughts or reinforce our verbiage. Television was the thing to become glued to with visuals becoming the dominate form of sensory input...often times at the expense of imagination or just plain old cognitive thought. As a result, we had less verbal and written communication; our skills falling farther by the wayside.
Time to pack up and start the loooong weekend. Wheeeee!
Skipping much farther ahead, the internet and wireless access evolved - once more changing the way we communicate. It seems technology has inadvertently caused us to come full circle with the revival of the written word - communication for the masses in the form of IMs, forums and blogging. We are now buried behind our screens, in front of our keyboards - pecking away in often times garbled, shorthand words. Grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and the ability to express a coherent thought flying out the window...if it was even present to begin with.
Which leads me to this thought. From what I can surmise, writing and verbal skills are not subjects much emphasized in school these days. Case in point: Honeybunny's son, then a recent graduate of a four-year university preceded by twelve years in private grade school, had me review a letter he was going to send out. I was totally abhorred at his poor grammar and sentence structure. While this letter is not completely reflective of his intellect, it was telling about the lack of substantive content in our education system.
Where is all this leading you ask? I'm not really sure. In this very speedy world of ours, maybe we all need to slow down a little bit and reread what we commit to digital paper. Take time to consider how the reader might misconstrue what the writer was trying to express. I'm not saying that snarky, wankage and downright irritation cannot be expressed...I've shared my fair bit, but in the mainstream of daily digital communication, maybe we still need to use smileys, emoticons or take that extra moment to find 'just right word' that will truly convey what we are trying say.
And in closing this meandering missive, I admire writers who are able to articulate an idea, elicit an emotion or just take us on a wild imaginary trip whether it be in the form of a novel, a piece of fanfiction, or something as simple as an LJ entry.
Time to close shop and start the long weekend. Wheeeeee!