1. New York Times journalist Farhad Manjoo sums up 50% of my experience utilizing digital tools and platforms to communicate with others: “it’s often easier to communicate […] through images and sounds than through text.” The first question mentions “digital tools,” and when I read this term, Twitter reaction pictures and videos come to mind. When communicating with my friends, I often send Twitter reaction pictures and videos (followed by text messages) to get my points across since the videos or pictures evoke emotions I want the recipient to experience reading my responses. As for platforms, I only utilize iMessage to communicate with friends because I do not use social media. I do not communicate with family. The only broader discourse communities I contact include members of this course and the members of the other courses I registered for; through Discord and BlackBoard (in discussion boards), my communication behaves the same way it does with my friends. My communication doesn’t change because the audience consists of other students around my age, but if the audience begins to include the instructor, the platform compels me to write formally.

 

  1. If my audience includes the instructor, I write my responses with honorifics and without emojis and contractions. I also make sure to write concisely and precisely. When the audience only consists of other students, the aforementioned guidelines do not exist.

 

  1. Because digital technology serves to facilitate communication, I am expected to fall back on utilizing abbreviations, but abbreviations almost always push me to research the meaning behind an acronym, so I never write with abbreviations since they usually do not make life easier for readers. I try my best to maintain a conversational voice when communicating through digital technology so that my writing reads concise and precise. In face-to-face conversation, my sentences get right to the point, so I always make sure my writing reflects this practice. In cases where I’m running late to something as usual, I usually send funny pictures on the platform of digital technology since “memes have more sticking power than arguments” (Manjoo) and since it saves me time.