Electronic Communication
Electronic Communication
Electronic Communication
Charlize Sotomayor
ENC1101
Professor McGriff
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
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
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
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.
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,
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.
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Pinker, Steven. “Mind Over Mass Media” Everyone’s an Author with Readings, edited by