Sotomayor 1

Charlize Sotomayor

ENC1101

Professor McGriff

October 27, 2019

Electronic Communication: Good or Bad?

Communication has developed a lot over the years, people have gone from hand writing

letters to sending emails and using social media to connect with one another around the world.

However, there is a huge controversy on whether or not electronic communication is doing more

harm than good, as there are many possible dangers that come with the use of such things.

Texting and social media is a very helpful and important part of society today, but there are

many concerns, three of the main concerns include, the limitation of how people communicate,

how they are damaging the people's use of the English language, and finally, if they actually help

us enlarge our social interaction and vocabulary.

When it comes to limitations on how people communicate with one another, the issues

varies. To start with, social media helps us stay in tune with people that aren't even in the

country. It allows us to find employment, friends, and even as far as love interest from a million

miles away. Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of They Say, I Say: the Moves That

Matter, says “With just a few taps on a keyboard, we can be connected with what others have

said not only throughout history, but right now, in the most remote places” (166). Which means

no matter where you are or where you come from, electronic communication has ties to help

people befriend others that are similar to their own person. With that being said, texting and
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other social networking also hinders us from contacting those nearby. Pinker, Steven, author of

Mind Over Mass Media, comments “These days scientists are never far from their email, rarely

touch paper and cannot lecture without a PowerPoint” (1029-1030). We get so caught up in

trying to message people far away and use things to our convenience, that we forget those that

are in our proximity of reach and how to do things without the use of technology. More times

than not, we involve ourselves so much with social contact that it ends up being all we do. We

slowly stop interacting with our neighbors, stop actually going places and hide ourselves up

inside the protection of our house. Even when people do decide to reamerge into society, we tend

to be glued to our phones and ignore or miss whats happening around us.

Social media grants us the ability to constantly see and read words everywhere we go,

helping us further develop the engilish language. What better way to learn something than to be

exposed to it 24/7? However, people are constantly unknowingly picking up bad habits, Crystal,

David, author of 2b or Not 2b, mentions “ There is no point in paying to send a message if it

breaks so many rules that it ceases to be intelligible” (901). That being said, let’s say two teens

were talking, they wouldn’t want to take the time out to fully type out the words. So what they

end up doing is shorting them up to the minimum amount of letters possible without making the

word too unrecognizable, for example if the two teens were texting, they would take ‘Are you

ready to go?’ and replace it with ‘r u ready 2go’. With the consistent exposure to these shortened

words and phrases, people start to forget that it’s not the proper way to spell or type, causing

younger people to try to use them in essays and other important writing material. Crystal also

states “such as the reports in 2003 that a teenager had written an essay so full of textspeak that

her teacher was unable to understand it” (901).

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As technology grows and enlarges, so does our social interactions and vocabulary. We

are able to use social media and texting to communicate with our parents, friends and even

teachers. In fact, Campbell, Ruth, author of OMG: Social Media May Wreck Your Kid’s Writing,

notes that “... students, for example, start learning keyboarding in kindergarten to get them us to

technology” (par. 1). Showing how it can help our students learn more in the classroom.

Although it can be used to help out in many places and with many subjects, people still have

trouble keeping proper English from texting English. Sentell writes “everyone speaks differently

for different audiences, bust some students struggle to switch” (qtd. in OMG). Students get so

caught up in the moment, spending day and night texting and messaging their friends that they

fail to realize that they are getting in the habit of misusing the English language, allowing them

to use the abbreviated words in important documents and essays.

In conclusion, even with all the advantages of electronic communication, we lose the

importance of the English language and forget to reconnect with the world that’s happening

around us. Instead of relying on a PowerPoint or Siri to help do something, try to pick up paper

and pencil, or ask a friend. Go outside to meet new people, don’t get lost in the world of

technology.

Works Cited Page

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Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstien. They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter.W.W.Norton’s

Company, 2018

Crystal, David. “2b or Not 2b?” Everyones an Author with Readings, edited by Marilyn Moller,

W.W Norton’s Company, 2017, 899-907

Campbell, Ruth. “OMG: Social Media May Wreck Your Kid’s Writing” linccweb.org, 1 January

2015, https://go-gale-com.db23.linccweb.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=View.

wpoints&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=BasicSe

archForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CEJ3010744226&docType=Viewpoint+essay&

sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-

MOD1&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ3010744226&searchId=R2&userGroupName

=lincclin_sjrcc&inPS=true. Accessed 1 November 2019.

Pinker, Steven. “Mind Over Mass Media” Everyone’s an Author with Readings, edited by

Marilyn Miller, W.W Northon’s Company, 2017, 1029-1032