Responce to The New Literacy

In times of Facebook, Twitter and texting, there is the ongoing controversial issue that students are loosing there ability to write. Due to the fast-paced nature of sending a message to your friend over the phone and updating your status, young people are taking shortcuts and it may be taking a tole on the way we write. In the article by Clive Thompson on the New Literacy, there has been credible evidence that this may not be the case. He compares the views between two professors at exceptional universities- though only one is able to back up her ideas. The amount of effort that went in to proving that literacy isn't dying is both impressing and credible, while the other merely complains. He writes about the evidence that Andrea Lunsford, a professor of writing at Stanford University, has given. With all the research she has done, she surprisingly states that technology isn't hurting young people's ability to write "it's reviving it—and pushing our literacy in bold new directions". The research shows "that students today almost always write for an audience" and write exceptionally well with a writing technique called kairos. She took samples of writing from students that ranged from formal essays to chat sessions and from blog posts to in-class assignments. The amount of evidence given will make you throw out any assumptions you may have had about the internet and about technology as a whole.

When it comes to writing online, most of us will readily agree that our writing styles change drastically from the way we might write in an English class to the way we type out our e-mails. Many essays are carefully done. They are well thought out, structured and sophisticated while e-mails are relaxed, casual and more personal. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is whether or not this amount of technology is affecting out writing. As previously stated, research shows that our writing is not getting worse, it is merely changing directions. I firmly believe that students know the difference between a formal, classic essay and a casual, quick text. Technology creates a sense of improvement for our generation. It allows us to get more work done and have information at our fingertips. Without this vast array of technology, lines of communication would be cut and the world would operate at a speed that would be uncomfortably slow in such a fast paced world. When you think about it, it becomes easier to stay in touch with others when you are able to communicate with one another at any point of the day. Though it might only be in front of a screen, these interactions are crucial in this generation due to the social nature of young people. Though some might argue that it takes away from a face-to-face social interaction, it clearly does not have any burden on our writing. In conclusion, the idea that technology hasn't made us bad writers is comforting. It may allow us to embrace our differences from previous kinds of writing and allow us to move forward and create things that may have never been thought of before. It creates an ideal path towards progress.