Hello!
My AP Language and Composition
teacher has assigned us a blog post for this week. Although I would usually
complain for several paragraphs about the tyranny involved in deciding what our
so-called “free writing” is about, I really don’t mind. It gives me a topic to
write about, and the topic she’s given us is actually pretty fun to think about.
So in the interest of picking battles worth fighting, I’m going to get started.
Social media is something that a
growing number of people – both old and young- are becoming interested in. To
some early adapters social media is already ingrained in the very framework of their
being. Without it many know that they would simply cease to exist, their
Facebook-less bodies wasting away in front of a blank computer monitor. The prevalence
of such types of social media in society has brought, and is continuing to
bring about changes in the way we act.
Many years ago there was an era
that, for the sake of clarity, I will now refer to as “the Dim Times.” Oddly
enough, however, is the fact that during the Dim Times people were actually
exposed to more light than they are being exposed to now. This strange
phenomenon is due to people actually going outside instead of staring
slack-jawed at a glowing screen while they creep on their friends’ friends’
friends’ friends on Facebook. In any case, in this past era people communicated
through a slow, unwieldy, time-consuming form of communication called “mailing
letters.” A person would sit down with a pen and piece of paper, usually with a
very clear purpose in mind. They would write a reasonably long, thoughtful
letter, and proceed to put it in an envelope and send it across town or across
the country. This whole process could take days or even weeks to complete. Another
archaic form of communication is the “phone call.” People would actually use
their voices to convey various types of communication. It’s almost absurd what
people resorted to in Ye Olde Times.
Compare that to the communication style of many today. A text message usually
contains anywhere from 10 to 160 characters and takes approximately 13 seconds
to send. An even more indirect method of communication is the Facebook or
Twitter post. Many people will put vague phrases on the internet that leave
nothing but a wasteland of confusion in their wake. Another downside of these
near-instant forms of communication is the different ways that a text or tweet
can be interpreted. For example, the one-word reply of “Okay,” will be
endlessly debated and scrutinized for deeper meaning. Why didn’t they include a
smiley face? Why didn’t they add an exclamation point? Why didn’t they say more
than that? The list goes on. Compared to texting, a telephone call is simple!
Through the natural inflection in someone’s voice emotions are easily
expressed. This makes it very clear when you’re talking to them on the phone.
Newer forms of communication certainly have their uses. Sending someone a
list of things that they need to remember is easily done through e-mail or text
messages, and allows the recipient to have a hard copy that they can hold on
to. It’s also much faster than sending a letter through the mail, taking only
seconds instead of days. These new ways to get in touch with your friends also
gives you a chance to get ahold of them even if they’re busy – just shoot ‘em a
text. They also have some very serious downsides, too.
The amount of detail that goes into a letter or phone call is immense.
You can convey more information with a single letter or phone call than you
could in fifteen or twenty text messages. This means that people are less
likely to be confused, worried, or upset by a phone call or letter than they
would be by a Facebook post or text message.
So although new ways to get in touch with people are nice, it’s also very
cool to get back to our roots and send that occasional letter or call your
friends every once in a while.
Thanks for reading,
Matt Finley
(696)
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