Changing communication
Email, SMS, BlackBerry messenger, Twitter and other social media communication tool have caused such an irreversible impact on the way we write that it would definitely anger our English teachers who spent hours teaching us basic grammar and how to write in full sentences.
Impacts of social media
The social media has impacted writing in two ways. One way is that writing is now more concise. When Twitter first came out, and we signed up, many of us were annoyed by its 140-word limit. I thought “how on earth am I supposed to report an event using 140 characters?” But now I realize that Twitter has been the greatest tool to teach me how to summarize the essence of a subject. You don’t need a whole essay to cause a movement or a change.
Unique language
Another way is using different words or abbreviations to refer to something. We no longer say “See you later” when we want to write a message, but we opt for the shortened “c u l8r”. Others would rather say “dat” instead of “that”. No, they are not spelling things incorrectly; rather they have come up with a whole new language that no one can judge to be wrong or right.
Sharing feelings
However, I think the greatest impact social media has made is on people’s communication with each other. Some people do not open up to their best friends when they are down, but would rather share their feelings with their 300+ followers on Twitter.
Sit around in any café or a restaurant and just look at the people around you. Many will be sitting with their friends; however they would all be typing away on their BlackBerry devices and barely talking to each other.
Final thought
This gets me to thinking, is social media really helping us become more social people, or perhaps anti-social disconnected robots?
What do you think? Follow me on Twitter: @manar_alhinai
By Manar Al Hinai
