How Does Texting Affect Writing?

The book “They Say/I Say with readings” (2nd edition; 3rd edition) by Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst, in the “Higher Education” and “Are We In A Race Against The Machine?” sections, (pp. 177-273; pp. 297-415) has many discussions and debates on the different aspects of how technology has and will continue to change the ways we live our day to day lives. The articles therein discuss topics from how you conduct research now compared to only a few years ago, to texting, emailing or instant messaging someone instead of calling, to something as simple as prioritizing daily tasks in some sort of electronic device instead of on a physical calendar. I will discuss some of the major points of the essays presented in the book as well
She explains that it is a new common form of communication and this new language is referred to as ‘textspeak’. It’s a very quick way to convey a message without having the whole experience of a phone call.
Cullington states, “Some people believe that using these abbreviations is hindering the writing abilities of students, and others argue that texting is actually having a positive effect on writing.” Cullington concludes, “In fact, it seems likely that texting has no significant effect on student writing.” There have been many studies and articles on texting and the correlation it has to the writing styles of present day teenagers. Jacquie Ream, author of K.I.S.S. – Keep It Short and Simple, states “We have a whole generation being raised without communication skills.”
Many experts blame the shorthand, acronyms, and abbreviations for students’ poor writing and spelling abilities. They say writing with this generation lacks emotion and depth. They blame the ‘to the point’ messages from texting and the emoticons to convey emotions via text message. Many also complain about the problems with punctuation such as commas, apostrophes, and even capital letters to begin a
They say writing with this generation lacks emotion and depth. They blame the ‘to the point’ messages from texting and the emoticons to convey emotions via text message. Many also complain about the problems with punctuation such as commas, apostrophes, and even capital letters to begin a sentence.
Michaela concludes her essay by saying, “Experts and students themselves, however, report that they see no effect, positive or negative. Anecdotal experiences should now overshadow the actual evidence.”
In the article entitled “No Need to Call” by Sherry Turkle, Turkle brings up the point of shy teenagers thinking out their text responses before sending them, where in real life they wouldn’t know what to say right off the bat and would feel humiliated. “It’s a place to hide.” says Elaine, a seventeen year old that Turkle discussed text messaging with for her