My Very Very Rough Draft

Introductory Paragraph

I am writing this paper to everyone that is in their late teenage years at this moment. Essentially I am writing to anyone that is around my age. I feel that I was born in a very crucial time. When I was younger, the Internet was becoming more available to the public, and it certainly was not easy to use. The main mediums of the media were newspapers and magazine articles. Reading books was still considered fun, and not a laborious task forced upon children by annoying teachers and parents. If you were born around the early 90s, you have seen the rise of the Internet. You know both the simple times before and the exciting times after the explosion of the Internet throughout our culture. I think that this is a very crucial generation because being raised both in a culture that did not focus mainly on the Internet and one that now focuses almost completely on the Internet we are able to bridge the gap between the generations. Because of this I am writing to my generation to warn them to be aware of how the Internet is affecting us. It is alarming not knowing the extent of the consequences of something that has become integral to our lives.

Imagine everything that you do in an average day, from waking up in the morning to when you fall asleep at night. Did using the Internet ever come up? Whether it’s checking the weather on your phone or updating Facebook the Internet plays a major part in our lives. With the variety of what the Internet gives us, it’s almost deceiving how much it affects our lives. Because of how much we use the Internet and how much we depend on the Internet it is pertinent that we comprehend the full effect that the Internet has on our lives, especially the negative effects it may have on our life.

The danger that the Internet exposes to the world is the way that it is constantly changing our society and our culture especially in how we read and write. I find that the best way to track how something that is widely used by society changes is to track how my use of it has changed. While this is not the most scientific or impartial way to study something, I think that it is the best way to study something so that it is significant to oneself. I think that this is important because any study that is done is done with a purpose, whether it’s for yourself or others. With the Internet and how it has changed the way we read and write I think back to how I used the Internet when I was little.

When I was little the Internet was something that I was rarely on, simply because you could not be on the Internet and have phone access at the same time. So my time on it was limited by my parents. There also was very little to do on the Internet anyway. Games and social networking were just barely beginning and therefore a lot less engaging. This freed up my time to play outside, read books, and just use my imagination to have fun. However, as the Internet grew more easily accessible and entertaining, I started spending more and more time on it. Reading became a chore that took too long to be considered fun. Then entering high school, I bought a laptop through my school. This opened up a whole new world of finding research easily online and staying in touch with my friends. I also started reading all news articles online. I began to read short articles that were quickly understood and then forgotten. “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr). In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr states this discussing the possibility that the use of the Internet, specifically search engines, is affecting our ability to read long articles and books (Carr). It’s a disturbing thought that the Internet may be causing us to not be able to read as easily or as in depth than we used to. This concept can be seen slowly spreading throughout our culture and society in more ways than just how we use the Internet. Conversations are shorter and to the point, writing about how we feel has dwindled down to a tweet limited to one hundred and sixty characters.

Another danger that can be seen with the increasing use of the Internet can be seen in the way that people interact with each other both in person and over the Internet. While this does not directly address reading or writing, I think that it indirectly affects how we read and write. In some ways it can be seen as beneficial to writing. We write now more than ever before with blogging and social networking sites. In his article “The New Literacy” Clive Thompson discusses a study done by Andrea Ludson on how the Internet is affecting the way that we write, specifically college students using blogging and social networking sites. In it she comments on how young people are writing more now than ever before, because of the Internet. This can be very beneficial to our generation because we are becoming more capable of writing for a specific audience and more knowledgeable of writing in general (Thompson). However, I can see this in a negative light as well. Because it is so much easier to just type out one’s opinion to the faceless mass that is the Internet, we are slowly losing our ability to interact socially in person. So while this increase in writing online is benefiting our ability to write in general, it does not necessarily make it beneficial to society overall.

One negative aspect of this is that we are less able to interact one and one, focusing more on oneself then on others. I think that this is interesting when compared with Andrew Sullivan’s perspective on writing on the Internet. Through his description of the Internet he sees writing as more open conversation than more traditional forms of writing. I think that this is an interesting take on something that is causing us to be less conversational in our daily lives. I also think that it does not consider how impersonal this conversation is. There is more to a traditional conversation than the words on a screen. Body language, emotion, and tone are all important to a conversation and are all lost when using the Internet. While many may say that this is no better than letters and books that were all handwritten, I think that there is a difference. With conversation more easily available on the Internet, it detracts from interaction in person. Why leave your house to talk to a friend when all you have to do is check to see if they’re online? Many may question what this has to do with literacy, but I think that all forms of communication are connected in some small way. Losing the ability to interact in person will change the way we write, though it may be difficult to perceive how exactly that will change.

Another point that is important to note is how each society and culture reads and writes is affected differently by the Internet. It is impossible to lump everyone into one giant group that can only be applied to a small percentage of people. Scribner discusses how it is nearly impossible to define literacy because it is different for every culture; therefore, it is affected in different ways especially by the Internet (Scribner). I think that this is one downfall of focusing on how something affects oneself. It is difficult to use one’s own experiences to understand how something affects another culture. While using self-experience as evidence may help in the small picture, if you want global change, you need to understand the big picture of an idea.

The Internet is such an all-encompassing concept in today’s society, that it is difficult to see the extent of its effect on us. While we must progress as society progresses it is important that we do not ignore something that has such a significant impact on our lives. Understanding that anything has both beneficial and detrimental effects is important. As the generation that is developing just as fast as the Internet it is important that we acknowledge both the positive and negative aspects of reading and writing before and after the Internet. Our culture is on the precipice of either a spectacular age of culture and knowledge or a dismal age of loss of literacy and in-depth thought. It is important that both individually and globally we maintain balance in how we use the Internet, despite the ever-increasing use in everyday situations.  

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic July-Aug. 2008. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Jan 2012.

Scribner, Sylvia. "Literacy in Three Metaphors." American Journal of Education 93 (1984): 6-21. Print.

Sullivan, Andrew. "Why I Blog." The Atlantic Nov. 2008. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Jan. 2012.

Thompson, Clive. “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy”. Wired Magazine. 24 August 2009.

Opinion of a Blogger Newbie

Having my own blog is something that I did not really see in my future. You never really expect to have blogging as a homework assignment and I never really thought that I would have a reason to blog. Well times change, and now I have eight blog posts out for the world to see. I think that this is the most challenging part about blogging, knowing that basically anyone can read whatever I write. In many ways I think that is one of the good reasons that blogging exists. It allows your audience to be anyone on the internet. When has something you have written ever been available to anyone you want? I think that the most surprising part about my blogging is that what feels like the hardest part is also surprisingly easy. When I post a blog it’s weird knowing that it’s out there on the web for anyone to read. But it’s so inconsequential, very few people read it. I think that everyone who blogs has this ideal of a great amount of people reading everything that they say. But I think (and I hope) that very few people really go around just reading blogs. This kind of makes the whole anyone can read what you say a little obsolete.

I think that doing all of this blogging has really changed how I use and look at the internet. The thing that changed my view the most was when we logged our internet hours. I realized that while I probably do use the internet more productively than some people who use the internet, I still am on Facebook and entertainment based sites a lot. It really makes me wonder about what I’m spending my time on. I also wonder about how the internet has become the main social medium. Any other form of media can be found on the internet. It’s almost scary to think what might happen if we suddenly didn’t have the internet anymore. I think that while the internet can be productive in many ways and bring about positive change, it must also be used with caution. You don’t want the internet to take over your life, and keep you from experiencing real life. So while using the internet for reading and writing, whether it is for educational or recreational purposes, can be very productive, we can’t lose the other forms of reading and writing.

Three Forms of Literacy According to Scribner

In “Literacy in Three Metaphors”, Scribner presents literacy, and the concept of defining literacy. She states how literacy is impossible to define because it has so many different facets to it, usually depending on the society that is being used to define literacy. Literacy can mean so many different things depending on how you use it in society. The three metaphors that Scribner gives are literacy as a adaptation, literacy as power, and literacy as state of grace. She describes how literacy is functional in a society, how people use the written language in their daily lives. She also describes how literacy can be used to give strength to a community, allowing more social participation from a larger amount of people. She also describes how literacy can be used to give a person certain virtues or spiritual power. I think that it is interesting, how Scribner describes the many facets of literacy. Most think of it as reading and writing. Few expand on how it is defined based on its purpose and need in a society. I think that is important because the purpose of an action will always give a lot more information than the action itself.

While both Carr and Hedges show how literacy is important in a society, they do not show how it is different for every society. They also show how literacy is continuously changing; however, they do not see how it is growing. In Thompson’s article “The New Literacy” he shows how literacy could potentially be changing for the better in America. He discusses how we live in an age that is filled with writing. I never really thought about how much more writing is done in society than in the early 20^th century. With the internet you just assume that writing is decreasing. However, with all of the blogging and status updates, we are writing more than ever. Yes it may not be that every status update and tweet turned out is a Pulitzer Prize in the making. Still the magnitude of people writing is enormous. While I can see the disadvantages of writing becoming shallower, it does seem to be growing more functionally ideal with the number of people who are writing growing.

I think that our most pressing literacy concerns should be on making sure that the rate of literacy grows without losing depth and intelligence in writing. If we all start changing literacy into the shortest most convenient thing possible, like doublespeak in 1984, then we will be in serious trouble. Still I think that literacy should continue to grow so that everyone can both listen and be heard.

America the (not so) Illiterate

In his article “America the Illiterate” Chris Hedges writes about how the term illiteracy is changing from his point of view. While there are still people who are illiterate, or unable to read, Hedges is redefining illiterate to mean people who can read, but who choose not to. He focuses on how everything is turning into pictures and entertainment. Why read when you can just see a picture and know what to do or what to buy. Hedges has a very harsh critique of the American public. He views the public as brainless simpletons who vote for the entertaining politician and have no independent thought. I also find it interesting that Hedges seems to indirectly blame Obama for America becoming “illiterate”.

While reading this article, I didn’t really find any particular idea confusing or troubling mostly because I think that he is completely wrong. There is not a single part of me that can agree with what he is saying. I will say that we are a society that does focus on entertainment and flash. However, we are still capable of independent thought. We are able to see a political ad campaign claiming how a rival candidate is evil because he or she never went fishing as a child and understand that is ridiculous. And sure some people probably are gullible enough to fall for it. But I don’t believe that society as a whole is unable to discern fact from fiction. It seems as if Hedges is getting all of his statistics from a certain group or demographic of people. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t know at least one historical fact. And everyone that I know is capable of independent thought and reasoning. It is more than insulting saying that the majority of people in America are “illiterate”.

It is interesting comparing this article to Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”. In both articles the authors describe how the thought and reasoning of the American public is becoming shallower and shallower. While Carr focuses on blaming the internet for the problem, Hedges focuses on blaming the increasing focus on entertainment in America. Both show how fewer books are being read and bought in America, with Hedges saying that 80% of families did not buy a book last year. And excuse my independent thinking here but that sounds made up. While both articles focus on America becoming stupider, I think that Carr has a bit more faith in the public. He seems to think that we will become computers with endless amounts of information but not a lot of deep thought into the information. Hedges seems to think that we will become brainless idiots only capable of reading pictures and believing anything that is shown to us through some sort of entertainment medium. Both outlooks look bleak, but hey I would prefer to think that America has a chance to become more socially aware and knowledgeable. But again forgive me my independent thinking.

Search Engines: Helpful or Not?

Reading Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” was both enlightening and terrifying. In it Carr discusses how the use of the internet, specifically internet search engines is changing not only the way that we read different types of writings, but could even be changing the way that we think. While most people just consider how the internet is benefiting us, Carr is taking the flip side of it, and showing what ways that using the internet could be negatively affecting our lives. He mostly focuses on how using search engines has limited our focus and attention to only snippets of information. Because of search engines we are allowed to flit about on the internet following hyperlinks and only reading the basic information. Carr discusses how this is limiting our ability to read in depth and actually contemplate about what we’re reading.

In this article, Carr does make some interesting points. As I read this article, I realized how few books I read now. Reading the article also made me realize the irony that Nicholas Carr was employing in writing this article. He wrote an article that took up eight pages on a Microsoft Word document about how people can no longer read for extended amounts of time. That made me wonder who this article was actually aimed at. Because if he was trying to direct this to people who don’t read anymore and who can only skim pages because of using internet search engines then according to him they wouldn’t even be able to read it. Also according to him, to the people that don’t use the internet that much, who would actually be able to read this article, this would only be reconfirming a belief that they probably already have. Just a thought I had while reading.

While Carr does make the interesting point that people are not reading as much as they used to or as in depth, I don’t think that search engines are only being used for shallow reasons. People today still use search engines for in depth searching. Looking at our internet logs and the blogs based on those, many of us use search engines to find news articles. And while I’m sure not everyone reads the entire article, I know that I usually do. I also do not think that we are mindless drones following hyperlink after hyperlink. We do not spend time just staring at the computer taking in useless bits of information just because it is there. We still think when using the internet and contemplate what is read, whether it’s the validity of a source or the opinion of an author. To say that humans may be turning more machinelike than the machines themselves is a scary and slightly insulting notion. But I do not see that in our future.

Harris and Sullivan define writing

In his book “Rewriting: How to do things with texts” Harris defines reading and writing in a way that I have not seen before. Rather than focusing on making sure that all work is being properly cited and quoted, he focuses more on building on what a writer has already created. It almost seems as if he imagines as writing as one large, conglomerate form, with each writer contributing a small part that others may build upon. In this way, Harris also defines reading, as an action that despite reading the same text, each reader will process it differently and add their own experiences and ideas to it. For the majority of my life, writing has focused on finding the meaning of a written piece, finding some way to make it my own, and making sure to cite the author correctly. I have never really been instructed to build upon another’s writings and to point out both “the limits and the uses”. This writing also involves a lot of focusing on what the author is trying to do with the words, rather than what he means by them.

Harris discusses how writing is like email, constantly forwarding an email bringing on numerous new comments while always reflecting back on the original email. On the other hand, Andrew Sullivan discusses how writing is more like a conversation, with both the writer and the reader contributing to the topic at hand. Both of these ideas show writing as a more freeform concept that is constantly building. They both show the connection between the reader and the writer; both contributing to an almost never ending topic. It’s starting to seem as though blogging is used as a way to constantly build upon other people’s opinions. Commenting on other blogs, writing your own on your own opinions, or blogging about another writer’s piece are all ways that you can contribute to the build.

General Internet Habits

Looking over everyone’s internet logs I see a lot of similarities. It seems that the majority of the time that people spent on the internet was on Facebook. This was not surprising at all, since that was the main webpage I was on for most of the time that I logged. Another similarity that I saw in everyone’s logs was using the internet for school work. Most of the school-related websites that I saw were Blackboard and Webassign. Based on what I saw overall, I think that the main uses people used the internet for were for social networking sites, homework, and to gain information such as weather reports. I think that while most people were mainly on the internet for entertainment, I think it still involved writing. Even on Facebook, you write to inform people through Facebook statuses. While this might not seem like a legitimate form of writing, I think that it still counts. You still are forming an opinion and sharing it with the world, or at least your group of friends. I also think that a lot of people used the internet to read and gain information. Many of the websites were used for weather reports or to find a carbon footprint. I think that this is one of the many great things about the internet. Almost anything can be learned from the internet, despite it being an unreliable source. Information can be shared in a second and it will be available to anyone. Looking at both my own and everyone else’s blog, I think that there is a lot more to be learned.

Internet Log AKA How much time I spend on Facebook

Internet Log:

Sunday

10:00 – I went on twitter using my smart phone to check the play by play updates that Real Madrid puts online. This makes it a lot easier to follow my favorite team, especially since I am unable to watch the games.

12:30 – I checked my news feed that is linked directly to my phone, read the more interesting-sounding articles

1:45 – I went on Facebook before starting my homework. I merely checked to see if I had any messages or notifications. After that I went on Youtube so that I could listen to music while I did my homework. I don’t have music downloaded on this laptop so if I want to listen to music I just use Youtube.

2:00 – I went on Blackboard so that I could look up what my assignments were.

3:00 – I signed onto Blogger to posts my blogs for the Writing Class. After that I signed onto my Gmail account to check my email. I then checked the score of the Bronco’s game on their official website.

6:00 – I used my smart phone to check BBC News. I looked over the headlines, and read interesting-sounding articles.

6:10 - I checked my news feed that is linked directly to my phone, read the more interesting-sounding articles

8:00 – I went on Blackboard to look up and download my Physics homework.

9:00 – I filled out the Catme surveys for my engineering classes. We use these websites to break the class into groups based on schedules and grade point averages. I checked Facebook for about 5 minutes and then I checked both of my email accounts on Gmail.

10:00 – I went on Youtube to listen to music.

10:45 - I checked my news feed that is linked directly to my phone, read the more interesting-sounding articles.

Monday

9:00 – I checked the BBC News App on my phone and read the interesting articles for about ten minutes. I checked the Real Madrid game on my Twitter App. I went on Facebook to check my page for about 5 minutes. I also learned that you can play Scrabble on Facebook which took up another 10 minutes of my time on Facebook.

11:00 – I checked Blackboard for homework, checked 1 Gmail account then checked the other Gmail account

3:00 – I checked Facebook on my phone and I checked Twitter on my phone.

3:45 - I checked my news feed that is linked directly to my phone, read the more interesting-sounding articles

6:00 – I went on Blogger during the Writing Class and followed everyone in the class. I used Google images to find the unit circle to help me with my physics homework.

8:00 – I used Blackboard to check to see what I had to do for homework and to download the Physics homework.

9:45 – I used Blackboard to take a Reading Survey for my engineering class. I also checked Facebook briefly.

11:30 – I checked Twitter, BBC News, direct newsfeed and Facebook on my smart phone before I went to bed.

Tuesday

8:15 – I checked twitter before going to class, used the weather channel app on my phone before I left for class.

10:30 – I checked Facebook, mostly playing Scrabble.

8:00 – I used Blackboard to take a Reading Quiz for Physics.

9:00 – I watched some TV off of the network websites.

Discussing Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog"

In his article “Why I Blog” Andrew Sullivan discusses the reasons why he blogs and how he believes that blogging contributes to the society as a whole. He describes blogging in many different ways but always sticking to the idea that blogging is very “free-form” and “conversational”. Blogging provides a connection between those who write about the information and those who read about it turning the writing into an almost collaborative notion. Blogging also provides a form of writing that is instantaneously available to the public, and constantly updating itself. Readers are able to follow a writer’s process and how his opinions and ideas change over time, creating a more narrative form of writing. This allows a closeness to the author that most readers are not able to obtain in other forms of writing.

I believe that the main reason that Sullivan was giving for blogging was that it provides a more connected reading and writing experience. With today’s technology being used to connect people all across the globe, blogging provides a medium for all of these people to communicate with each other and to share ideas. This creates a great contrast with the more typical forms of writing in which both the author and the readers are unknown to each other and therefore dependent on a stranger. Blogging creates a closer connection because opinions are shared, especially around very important events, revealing personal information both about the author and the reader. As Sullivan put it, "It renders a writer and a reader not just connected but linked in a visceral, personal way." This creates a bond that cannot be created without the “closeness” that the Internet provides. Although not replacing traditional forms of writing, blogging is becoming a new way to connect people and share ideas creating a more socially aware society.

Creating The Blog

It was surprisingly easy to set up my blogger account. I already had a Google account, and after that all that was needed was signing in and checking the terms and agreements box. The most difficult part about creating the blog was definitely naming the blog and the URL address. I wasn’t sure if the blog should have had a clever title or just a simple one to indicate that it was for the Academic Writing course. I decided to go with a title that would just identify that it was for the rhetorical writing class because in case I decided or was required to have different blogs in the future then it would be easy to keep them separate. Although the prospect of having my opinions out for anyone to read is both exciting and terrifying.

Setting up a blogger account and starting to blog on my own has definitely changed my perspective on blogging. I used to think that blogging was just for people who had no one that would listen to their opinions so they just threw them out on the internet hoping someone would find interest in them. Now I’m starting to realize the effect that blogging can have on the public, especially if the blogger has interesting opinions. I also think that blogging does have a strong similarity to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. People use these sites to give their opinions and thoughts and find people that share their views. I think that blogging and formal writing today are becoming more similar. It used to be that blogging was a bit more unfinished while reading a newspaper or a magazine article was a more polished piece. However, I believe that if more and more people, especially people that are able to give their opinions both interestingly and intelligently, start blogging then it will become a more viable writing medium.