I think that we all get Chris Hedges’ point. He is sad that the age of newspapers is dying and he want to put all of the blame on the Internet. His negative and pessimistic tone that he uses about the way our society tries to obtain information is almost too much for me to handle. I understand that he must have a deep love and appreciation for newspapers, but no one ever said that he can’t read them anymore. They are still out there for anyone to make use of.
Our society is simply making the transition from one form of technology to another. Just as the transition of news being spread by word of mouth went to the newspaper, the newspaper is now evolving to the Internet. I am sure that there were many people that did not appreciate the newspaper when it first was invented. But the newspaper turned out to be a great invention. Yes there will always be some negative effects in this evolution process, but like anything, when placed in a new environment, it will adapt in order to fit the environment. Yes, newspaper writers and editors may be losing their jobs. But there are plenty of opportunities out there for them to find new areas of expertise. I personally think that the internet is a better way of obtaining news anyways. Because newspapers are so biased and slanted, you are only getting one perspective a newspaper story. On the internet, it is so easy to search for many different sides to a particular story, and you can form your views or opinions based on the many different perspectives that were offered to you.
When it comes to Thompson’s article, I was very appreciative of it. I agree based on my personal experiences that many adolescents are practicing poor grammar, etc. on a regular basis via text messaging, facebook, and so on. But when those same adolescents sit down and write an academic essay, it is no problem for them to make the transition into a more formal tone. I thought it was interesting when the author says, “The Stanford students were almost always less enthusiastic about their in-class writing because it had no audience but the professor: It didn't serve any purpose other than to get them a grade.” I had never really thought about this before. Writing is a lot more fun, at least to me, when I know that many other people will be reading it and judging me accordingly.
I also know so many people that use the Internet to discuss/debate certain issues with other people around the world. This is obviously a great way to not only practice writing skills in a more formal way, but also communication and debate skills with other people. I completely agree with Clive Thompson’s article. The use of the Internet may not be the most formal way of writing, but it is allowing the young people of our society to practice their writing in a way that they enjoy, so they will get more exposure to writing, and that will in turn make them more well-rounded people.
Our society is simply making the transition from one form of technology to another. Just as the transition of news being spread by word of mouth went to the newspaper, the newspaper is now evolving to the Internet. I am sure that there were many people that did not appreciate the newspaper when it first was invented. But the newspaper turned out to be a great invention. Yes there will always be some negative effects in this evolution process, but like anything, when placed in a new environment, it will adapt in order to fit the environment. Yes, newspaper writers and editors may be losing their jobs. But there are plenty of opportunities out there for them to find new areas of expertise. I personally think that the internet is a better way of obtaining news anyways. Because newspapers are so biased and slanted, you are only getting one perspective a newspaper story. On the internet, it is so easy to search for many different sides to a particular story, and you can form your views or opinions based on the many different perspectives that were offered to you.
When it comes to Thompson’s article, I was very appreciative of it. I agree based on my personal experiences that many adolescents are practicing poor grammar, etc. on a regular basis via text messaging, facebook, and so on. But when those same adolescents sit down and write an academic essay, it is no problem for them to make the transition into a more formal tone. I thought it was interesting when the author says, “The Stanford students were almost always less enthusiastic about their in-class writing because it had no audience but the professor: It didn't serve any purpose other than to get them a grade.” I had never really thought about this before. Writing is a lot more fun, at least to me, when I know that many other people will be reading it and judging me accordingly.
I also know so many people that use the Internet to discuss/debate certain issues with other people around the world. This is obviously a great way to not only practice writing skills in a more formal way, but also communication and debate skills with other people. I completely agree with Clive Thompson’s article. The use of the Internet may not be the most formal way of writing, but it is allowing the young people of our society to practice their writing in a way that they enjoy, so they will get more exposure to writing, and that will in turn make them more well-rounded people.
The importance of audience is one of the main reasons I have you all posting, reading, and commenting on these blogs. I hope it makes the writing at least a little more interesting for you all.
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