Chapter 5 Reflection

Upon taking the course, English Grammar for Everyone, one of the first ideas that was brought to our attention was that, so long as the text was decipherable, there was no such thing as "incorrect grammar." After having this concept drilled into my head biweekly for an entire semester, it is a belief of mine that those who choose to marginalize a person for their particular way of speech are incredibly finicky and need to find something worthwhile to do with their extraordinary amount of time. When the chapter opened to acknowledge the idea that many find digital language to be for the impoverished, I was slightly upset. However, as I read on, I truly and one hundred percent support the ideas I have read.

There were several different topics within the text that caught my attention, but the main point of everything felt like the text was attempting to teach you how the younger generation uses text language, and in some cases addresses the audience as if we were our grandparents. That being said, it was an extremely easy to digest section of text.

The way in which the text describes the difference in communication between the face-to-face phone-to-phone was very interesting, as within this description, I realized that I fit into the ideas that were perpetuated in many different ways. The differences between synchronous and asynchronous communications are two concepts that I constantly find myself dealing with. In many cases, I'd rather approach a friend in person and talk to them about absolutely anything, but when I'm crunched for time, I'd shoot a friend a message and yet, still anticipate the instant response that I would receive if I were to talk to them in person. This idea also plays a bit into transaction cost (and a bit of laziness as well). It is more convenient for me to briefly ask a single question without getting into the whosits and whatsits of daily conversation that I might not have time for at that moment.

Another idea that the class briefly touched upon was discussed in the text under the idea of "media richness." I standby whoever it was who claimed that the difference in grammar, emoticons, and punctuation dictate a language tone all of its own when speaking person to person. Communication and the tone of everything in written text becomes so absolutely individualized that sending the text, "Where are you?" to one person may simply be asking a question, whereas to another person may sound angry. The tone of texting is so particular and confrontation is almost inevitable, even when the intent of the author was not intentionally confrontation in the least. On a personal note, if anyone ever sends me ROFL or LMAO, I automatically assume they cheerily breathed air from their nostrils and did no such extreme expression of laughter at all. They could have been laughing, but that's simply how I perceive the abbreviations.

Texting has given the modern day user the ability to communicate more quickly with less hassle, but at the same time, it is all too common place for one to become solely reliant on such a technology. As a result it is possible to become a social hermit, but a word of advice: don't do that.

On Transaction Costs

One of the biggest topics that stuck out in this chapter was that of transaction costs.  Reading those couple paragraphs I thought, “Oh my God, this is me. I’m the asshole who doesn’t want to talk to anyone for excessive amounts of time.”  Then I sat back and thought a little more.  I had just had a phone conversation with my best friend last night.  Something had happened earlier in my day that was too exciting to convey in a text message, so I called her.  What would have otherwise been a three-message-text conversation between us turned into a twenty minute long phone call; my exciting news was done being talked about within the first five minutes. 

What kept us on the phone so long was that we both weren’t comfortable hanging up without asking about certain parts of each other’s lives: “Did work go well tonight?“… “Are you feeling any better from yesterday?”…“Oh my gosh, I forgot to ask you about your dog!” “How was your family cookout this past weekend?” Just little things that we could have discussed in text messages, but those messages would have been sporadic throughout the week. 

Finally hanging up was a minute long process in itself.  A lot of sighing, a lot of “okaaaaay”s and “weeeeell”s, just verbal cues that give a feel that we were done talking, but allowing enough pauses to ask or talk about last minute things.  I feel like goodbyes are so awkward nowadays on the phone regardless of whom I’m talking to.  Funny thing is, her and I were texting as soon as we got off the phone to say goodnight.  I’m laughing at this right now.  Seriously, I sound so pathetic; actually “shallow” is probably a better word. 

At the same time, my boyfriend and I barely talk on the phone unless it’s something that needs to be discussed ASAP.  He gets busy, and I get busy, so when we text sometimes we don’t reply for a while.  Phone calls get the job done: “Hey babe, what do you want for dinner?”… “Let’s just do tacos.  I took the meat out of the freezer this morning to thaw.” …“Awesome, I’ll have it ready for when you get home, I love you.”  “I love you too, bye.” 

And that’s that! A text message would have been ignored for however long, and the question of dinner would still be an ongoing issue—if you want to even call it an issue—probably until we were both hungry and just getting home together.  Texting for us gives us little things to look forward to in the day.  I’ll send him one in the morning, he’ll reply around lunchtime, I’ll send another one after a class, and he’ll get back to me after he’s out of work.

The way communication has evolved is definitely a lot to let sink in when I actually sit down to think about it and compare my own means of communication to how it used to be.  Before texting or even cell phones at that matter, I would have had to call my best friend’s home phone to get a hold of her or wait for her to get online on AIM, or my boyfriend and I would have had to either guess what the other wanted to eat or somehow got a hold of each other on a work phone or a maybe even a beeper (that’s what they were called right?) Everything really is changing, but I also agree with the book that it makes those “richer” means of communicating that much more special.  Sure, my best friend and I have less to talk about during the week now, but it was nice catching up in a phone call for once and hearing her vocally laugh instead of an “LOL.”  And the little notes that my boyfriend and I leave for each other to find is a cuter way to let us know we love each other rather than just saying it in a text message.  I guess it all comes down to how we really use everything that’s provided for us in this technological age along with the “outdated” ways of communication that really aren’t that bad once you remember how big a part of your life they used to be. 

Class Activities 9-2-13

Does the Internet Make You Dumber?

Does the Internet Make You Smarter?

Chapter 1 Reflection: Mediation

Mediation. When I hear this word, I think of the several ways in which the definition of this word can be stretched. I think of multimedia visualizations about the lower class or those that are in poverty appealing to those that are more fortunate in order to create a sense of understanding of exactly how their consecrations separate them from the lower classes. I think of how these visualizations distance the viewer from reality. I think of a YouTube video that shows the sights of African jungles so one doesn't have to go through the lengthy travel process. I don't think of the ways we use the tools in our life to interact with the world, I think of how these interactions help us cut corners and rid ourselves of the middleman. Not particularly in a lazy sense, but rather a way that spares us the integrity of a reality-based existence. Not that this is a bad thing, but a good thing that could be world-changing if there wasn't a few other elements within the internet that keep these experiences from being intoxicated.

In the textbook, "Understanding Digital Literacies, A Practical Introduction," it states, "most of the things these tools allow us to are pretty mundane like sharing photos with friends, using a search engine to find a place to eat, or acquiring the 'magical power' that we need to reach the next level in an online game." I feel as though this form of mediation is not only the most abundant, but also the most dense.

Social media has become much of the balance in the digital world. With its application to many professional means in terms of business and any other form of intellectual recruitment, social media has become the default medium in mediation. This is something that scares me because it feels a bit too public to be applied to any sort of professional standards. I mean sure you can spot those that have the ability to use social media to rally a group of followers or seek out those that can use social media to create business contacts, but it all seems so remedial when one thinks of the educational and cultural benefits that the internet could be used for.

Now I'm not old-fashioned, I think it's good that the internet is steering society. In theory, the world should become much smaller and an easier place to live and understand due to what I like to call the "Tube Connection". A connection that allows other cultures to view each other without the need to jump to conclusions or stereotype because culture is become so digital-based. But I think new-aged social constructs are becoming the mediation that I don't want to be a part of.

Chapter 1 reflection

This first chapter is basically an introduction to digital literacies and the way they shape our reality, how even a small invention like the mainspring can change the way we look at the world and ourselves. I found it particularly interesting that the person in the example seemed to regard his watch as a part of his body. And it's true that when someone asks us the time we usually say we know before we've looked, but now that technology has progressed and changed our world even more, there is little need to ask the time, because most people have it already.
    Affordances and constraints were talked about, and it is important to realize that there will be both with any kind of technology you come across. For example, the internet can provide you with a lot of good information, but there are also a lot of distractions and false information that constrain your use of this tool. The chapter went on to discuss the ways that our new literacies change the ways we interact and relate. We can get to know someone through today's technology without ever meeting them, which eliminates geographical barriers somewhat when it comes to communication. It's amazing to think that only twenty years ago it would have been impossible to get to know someone from halfway across the world without ever traveling to that person's homeland or them travelling to you.
   The chapter also touches on the fact that new technology always creates a certain level of resistance, and that's true. There will always be those who are afraid of what's new, but there will also always be those who find creative ways of improving our world with new technology. If you ask me, digital literacies and the technology through which they are possible are not going anywhere, so we can only move forward making the best of things with them.

Chapter 1 Reflection

Chapter 1 of Understanding Digital Literacies by Rodney Jones and Christoph Hafner was basically an overview and introduction to what the rest of the book will be discussing, and an explanation of what some of the terms they will be using mean in  the context of the book.

I felt like the text was very repetitive, and long winded, but some of the points they made were valid. I was annoyed as a reader that they had to keep repeating the same phrases about doing, meaning, relating, thinking and being so many times. It was overkill. We get the point.

What was very interesting to me was the section about timekeeping devises and their portability. It was mentioned that back before the mainspring was invented there wasn't much need for people to be constantly aware of the time. I agree with that in a sense, but before portable time keeping devises were popular and affordable people relied on the sun to tell time. When I was touring with Drum Corps International having a watch at rehearsal wasn't allowed at all times because it would have us counting down the minutes through a rough rehearsal, but we could still tell approximately what time it was because of the location of the sun and how hungry we were. These were comparatively primitive ways of keeping time, but they worked well in this context.

It was then noted now that time is so portable, there is a more strict notion of being on time and running late. Although time wasn't supposed to be the focus in a rehearsal, being on time to a rehearsal, bus, meal, etc. was of the utmost importance. If you 'lost track of time' and were late, you were running your butt off to make up for it, and hurting your team. I also started thinking about time as we think about it in the classroom setting. Back before portable time, 50 minute classes and 10 minutes of commuting time between classes would have been very impractical. Nowadays, we measure time in even smaller increments, and that has definitely added stress to society and individuals. The world as we know it is constantly in a hurry. 

There were a lot of things in this chapter that I could pull out and dissect and give my opinion on, but there are too many to mention in this blog post. One of the things that really stuck out to me was on page 12 about digital literacies. I agree somewhat that " Literacy is not just a way of making meaning, but also a way of relating to to other people and showing who we are, a way of doing things in the world, and a way of developing new ideas about the solutions to the problems that face us". If we think of literacy traditionally, as the ability to read and write, I would like to make the point that yes, reading and writing does make these ways of communication easier, but it is fundamentally unnecessary to be able to read and write to think of a solution to a problem, to do things, or to relate to people. I actually believe that it would be better for people to break from the technological world more frequently, and stop reading and writing and just get back to the earth and spend more time in a pure and natural world.

Although there are plenty of affordances that the digital world has brought to us, some of the constraints are must more permanently damaging than many people can even imagine. I look forward to unveiling some of these constraints in later chapters, hoping that knowledge and the transfer of that knowledge between people can help reverse some of the negative side effects of the digital world on a person before it becomes too late.

A Glimpse into Chapter 1

We all have our daily routines; whether it be making breakfast, folding laundry, brushing our teeth, the list is limitless. These kind of practices have become instilled habits within our lives. After having ensued them for so long, there’s hardly a reason to interrupt the comfort and consistency that these routines have brought about. It’s these kind of routines that shape who we are and what our lives become because of our choices. Today, many daily routines include that of checking the internet. Just as eating a healthy breakfast affects our bodies, the web also affects our minds. Have we stopped to think about how our behavior and attitudes have been shaped by this addition to our daily routine? 

As mentioned in the reading, all tools used for communication bring about strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the user to decide what kind of effect the internet, in particular, will have upon their lifestyles. There are so many new possibilities presented to a user with any kind of new technology, not just the web alone. From the beginning of time, there has always been new inventions that brought about a kind of fear of the unknown among society. Fear of what could happen as a result of these technologies and curiosity about what’s to come. For instance, fear of the printing press, fear of even the watch; at some point in time, somebody feared the effect these tools would have upon society. It can be said that we've become almost a desensitized culture because of the internet and recent technology. Today’s generation knows nothing but the internet, while past generations question its purpose. With help of this book, internet users may become more aware of how it’s shaping not only their minds, but their relationships as well. 

 The digital age has also brought about a relationship revolution. The way we interact has been shaped forever by the internet. From the way we interpret messages to the way we deliver messages, the traditional form of communication has drastically changed from what it was before. Messages are instantaneous and short as opposed to longer form letters. However, we are still forced to read and write but through a different context. Through blogs, writers and readers are allowed to interact on a new level; giving everyone the power to publish and share their own ideas, also encouraging creativity. With that said, we can also become different people. We can put on a different internet persona completely separate from who we are in reality. We can even form relationships we people we haven't even met. With that said, the internet is a tool that is directly effected by the circumstance it is used within. 

Creativity also has no capacity when it comes to the digital era. Yet another outlet in which the internet gives us the power to do what we will with the tools that it allows. The fear of the internet becoming a daily routine causing us to lose basic socialization is prevalent in society. However, Digital Literacies works to be that mediator to provide for readers a better understanding of how the digital era is affecting our minds and communication. It’s up to ourselves to decide what we will do with the information and how we will better our own digital experience.