“Writing is among the greatest inventions in human history, perhaps the greatest invention, since it made the history possible. Yet it is a skill most writers take for granted” (36)says Andrew Robinson, and this is exactly why I went to university: to learn how to write proficiently, and get ahead of most of the young men and women in my age group. I realize that because writin skills are becoming more and more obsolete, learning this skill would make my job prospects more and more definite. Daily practice is the most tried and true way of mastering a skill, and I try to write with a purpose whenever I write. My friends think I am really strange for correcting their spelling on Facebook.com and while texting. For me, the world is my stylus and everything I say is going to count at some point.
Being somewhat of a romantic, I still readily default to writing to letters when I want something I have to say mean more than "OMG did you watch 90210?!" I have written a few letters this year, mostly Christmas cards, birthday cards to my friends in
I don't often talk on my phone (almost all of my "whenever minutes" are unused) but I do talk to my boyfriend and my family on my phone just to let them know what I'm doing and when to meet up. As texting and phones with interne plans like the I-phone and Blackberry become more common (and cheaper…Iphone is now $99??) people are less likely to call with the phone and more likely to leave a wall post, text or email. For the most part I think this is because people don’t like going outside their comfort bubble and talking on the phone has its fair share of awkward silences and strange etiquette rules. I mostly text because I am always in class or at work where I can't call people back or talk on the phone; there’s a matter of discreet communication. Also, I have a larger texting plan to accommodate people who can only text. I only use email to talk to teachers and my grandmother; basically, it is outdated enough for it to have no real purpose but to link me back to emails and sales at AmericanEagle.com.
Of all the technologies and websites that I dislike I hate Twitter, and Myspace.com the most. Whereas, at its simplest, Facebook.com is more effective and easy to use, Myspace.com is basically a place for creepy stalkers and fifteen year olds to hook up in androgynous cyberspace forums. Secondly, Twitter has its own brand of annoyance, it texts you every time someone posts a new status—the problem with this being an individual’s choice of friends. Where you might be friends with someone outside of cyberspace, it is extremely difficult to remain friends with a Twitter friend because they instantly become a cyber three year old, always posting you on every single event in their life, where they are all at all times, and what they are thinking or feeling. Basically Twitter allows you to babysit your friends, what to do with these texts completely boggles me. Why would anyone care if their friend was running to the store, going to the gym or even picking their nose...or the most annoying: "my life sucks I hate everything wah wah wah"? Facebook.com still remains my most used means of communication as it holds a complete advertiser's dream it is still much better than Myspace.com which is so much more smutty.
Just as Plato argued in Phaedrus, technology (in his case, writing) has made us much more likely to forget important information and perhaps, a stupider society. In the recent film “Wall-E” the entire human population of the universe floats around in large hovering Laz-E-Boys and drinks big, blue slushies while controlling their universe with a more grandiose version of the universal remote. Are we headed to this fat, stupid and mechanized future? Perhaps we are a long way off, but there is definitely a hint of a de-evolution of culture as we become more and more isolated from each other, yet more connected on cyberspace and as we digress into all-knowing, extremely informed hermits.
