I am completely aware that this is a broad topic, but I believe there is something we are failing to take into account. I think the internet is horrible for the American people. Do I love the internet? Absolutely. Does it make my life easier? Without question. The problem I am seeing repeated over and over 1. Comes from laziness and 2. Comes from Apathy.
The first problem is the destruction of grammar and spelling. I am completely aware that we live in a world that wants to get as much out as possible at all times. Texting has taken over. Where there were once phone calls made from one person to another, we can now send a short message to a group of friends. It's easy, and it becomes easier when you butcher the English language. For something to be abbreviated in a text is one thing, but when people carry said habits over to the internet (the largest gathering of minds that has ever been possible), it dumbs everyone down. I'm not going to get into common grammatical errors that happen (though it really shouldn't be difficult to tell the difference between their, there and they're), it's the egregious use of this simplified type of speak that is truly infuriating. In my opinion these individuals are either showing their age, or their laziness. I would much rather it be the former, but fear it's the latter.
The second problem comes from the overuse of sarcasm. This is the thing that I need to spend more time being intentional about. The anonymity of the internet allows people to take what was once a defense mechanism for the pubescent and turn it into an art form. I can't help but think that that ends up hurting us as a society. Instead of people getting into lively debates that cause the other person to construct an argument and defend it with facts, we can just berate each other into submission by using snide comments. The worrisome part for me, is that it has made it's way onto television and is accepted. It always used to seem that the adults that lived dolling out the sarcasm on the romcoms and sitcoms of old were the ones viewed as the most immature. Now, every character seems to take sarcasm to the extreme (including one of my all-time favorite shows "The Office"). I can't think of my grandma saying a single sarcastic thing since I've been alive. My fear is that I will soon be in her shoes surrounded by people that only use sarcasm to communicate, because they just don't care.
I truly believe that both of these can be resolved, but the first one will take a lot of work and the second a lot of care.
1 comment:
I completely agree. I think texting and the internet are creating a trend of semi-illiterate teenagers. I cringe when I read teenager's status' on facebook. Half the time, I don't even understand, and don't care to. The spelling, or lack thereof, is atrocious. Now, adults are starting to use this "dumbed-down" language. It drives me insane when my mom types "luv" instead of "love". (I'm cringing just thinking about it.)
As for the sarcasm, I must say that is has to be coming to a head, if the King of Sarcasm, Drew W. is making comments about it. Anyway, I agree with you. People have no face to face connection on facebook (ironic name) or blog sites or anywhere else, so they feel overly confident to put someone in their place with a snide remark. I think you and I have discussed this before about some religious debates that have happened over facebook. People have no tact because they have no consequences. You're right... it's a egregious.
I concur.
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