The constant changes of digital tools throughout numerous years have advanced not only the efficiency but also changed the way we communicate through its nuance. Just a few years ago, people, including me, used to love leaving voicemails instead of spamming people with imessages. However, now, it is quite rare for my close friends and families to leave voicemails because texting is a faster way to get their messages through. In addition, back when Skype was one of the most popular platforms, I remember video chatting with my friends through this app. Times have changed, and Facetime is now used more widely. Just like those, there will always be new platforms that will eventually replace older ones to fit the concepts of new generations.
The audience is a pertinent factor in determining how I structure my sentences. It would be disrespectful to talk or type the same way I did with my friends compared to my professors or other adults. With friends, I am very informal, abbreviate words, and use emojis to express how I feel through text messages. On the other hand, I mainly communicate through email with my professors, following the email etiquettes to show my respect.
The article “We Learned to Write the Way We Talk” really summarizes how our writing styles are changing as generations pass to create ways to deliver our expressions through texts. Although it is pretty easy to pick up on someone’s emotions and moods when hearing their voice, it can be tricky through texts. Therefore, informal conversational domains like adding extra letters to a word or capitalizing words can immensely help deliver our emotions a little more accurately through texting. It is honestly really fascinating to see how people quickly pick up new word trends when no one announces these changes. It’s as though we all unconsciously know to use recent word trends to expand the way we express our emotions through text.
February 7, 2022 at 1:38 pm
I also think it’s interesting how word trends catch on fast even though these trends are officially announced anywhere. It really shows how because of technology, it is way easier to see the words and variations of words people are using and add them to our own digital writing vocabulary if we ever need them to express a specific emotion.
February 7, 2022 at 1:41 pm
I completely agree on your point of picking up word trends with no conversation regarding it. I think social media like Tik Tom or Twitter are very much responsible for this. We get to see what people all over the word are thinking, and how they use language. What we see and retain gets passed down through other social medias that may be considered more personal, such as iMessage and Snapchat or Instagram. Social media gives life and quick death to so many words and phrases, and none of it is ever discussed, it just happens.
February 7, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Hi Jessica,
These are very interesting points you bring across! I remember when Skype use to be a thing (there were also so many apps like this but now it is mainly, as you have mentioned, FaceTime). Regarding your point about voicemail, some people don’t even have their voicemail set up anymore! I agree completely with your point on “there will always be new platforms that will eventually replace older ones to fit the concepts of new generations”. As our needs as persons and as a society shift we demand methods that help us get our point across more efficiently and help us convey what we are trying to say most directly. “We Learned to Write the Way We Talk” really does summarize the points made above. I see it as we are finding ways to help the virtual and online worlds to feel most like a face-to-face experience.