Final Draft

Brady Hargrove

2/5/12

Writ Essay

Audience:

I have to decided to chose my parents generation (40-60 years old) because they are the generation who has been through the introduction and entire life of the Internet, computers, and they were born when TV’s were first being debated upon. I chose this audience because I think it will be easier to appeal to them rationally since I can relate the topic with the introduction of the TV. Also this generation has been here through it all so I can provide a personal view from a separate age group that has only grown up with computers and the Internet.

Reading and Writing With the Internet

The reading and writing that goes on throughout the Internet is far more extensive than anyone could imagine.  Even down to the very basics of computers as a whole and the fact that any function on a computer is taking place because of a previously written code, and the Internet actually is actually made of letters at its most basic form. But what seems to become the pressing issue as these technologies keep progressing is what kind of effects do they have on of minds? Its clear to see many positives and negatives for the Internet and maybe that is what makes this question so hard to find a good concrete answer for, because humans can mess up in so many ways that it makes it easy to argue for both sides. Also the Internet seems to get more and more creative and different everyday that it is hard to predict the future of where the Internet will go next; it has almost endless possibilities from what we have seen so far. It is undoubtedly true we are reading and writing far more in the Internet era than any other before, but it is also true that writing we do has become simplified and much shorter in length. The Internet might be changing things more than we know.

With the Internet being so complex anymore it is hard to think of all the ways people can communicate using the Internet, such as social sites, e-mail, blogging, Skype, and who knows what else. We are able to read and write so much more than we were ever able to before the Internet and it makes it easy to stay connected with old friends and still be apart of each other’s lives. Andrew Sullivan describes some of this communication in his article “Why I Blog” and explains a lot of the positive things that comes from his blogging. This new sort of communication gives you an audience of ANY other person who has access to the Internet and leaves room for the conversation to keep going, and leaves room for others to completely explore the topic being talked about in the blog or where ever someone may have posted it. Its true while having blogs fends for a much less formal and much less in depth analysis about a topic coming from that one person, but the truth is once everyone has commented and put there ideas back into the topic then the length has increased and you also have the opinions of others to helped broaden your understanding in an interesting and conversional way, rather than going and reading something out of text book. The writing has become shorter because with almost all the worlds information is on the Internet it has made it easier for anyone to go directly to an answer instead having to previously read a twenty page long explanation to get an answer. Its shorter because the Internet has made it so much easier for everyone to access information and leaving more space in our brains for useful information that may have been previously used up by long and strung out explanations. We are able to do this because people can now all synthesize together and come up with the best and simplest explanation to post on wiki that will still get you the same results. Some make think it is true that information on sites may not be reliable, but the same can be true for any sort of information source (Internet, Television, Newspapers, and Friends), and it is up to the reader to find and use valid sources. The new communication has undoubtedly helped the learning and processing of information, and the Internet has made it easier for people to share their ideas.

Others may have a different opinion about the Internet such as Chris Hedges who wrote the article “America the Illiterate.” Hedges believes that this shorter and less formal writing style is making our brains incapable of reading longer texts. It is hard to believe that because you read shorter text that it will make it so you can no longer focus and stay concentrated on one single writing piece for too long, and this almost sounds to me as one possible unreliable source on the Internet. My counter brings me back to the idea that with more conversation on the Internet then you really are reading just as much. Take Facebook as a good example since people are able to sit on their for hours and have all sorts of conversations with their friends is still away of reading and writing for hours. Yes it is true that we normally do not stay focused on one single topic for very long but it is because our curious minds that we want to learn more things and change to different topics to read about. With the Internet we are able to let our curiosity run wild and helps make it so we are able to read about any topic at any time that we may have on our minds. Even as I am writing this paper I am bouncing around from Website to Website interacting with my friends, doing homework for other classes, or looking something up on Google that I heard about from someone yesterday. Many would say that these are all distractions taking me from my work, but I use it as a way to keep my mind fresh and to help myself not get stuck on the same topic with no idea where to go. We know everything can be connected in same way or another and I think the Internet gives you the tools to go and find that connection, and that is why you can find inspiration on the Internet so easily and help get new ideas to expand on the idea you are writing.

The Internet is a great tool for daily life. And the thing about the Internet is, just as Mark Zuckerberg said with Facebook “…it’s cool…” because we cannot predict the future of where the Internet will go next and what new doors it will open for us. The Internet can make anything popular, and not always in a good way, but the Internet just has away of grabbing all the attention. We almost do not need TVs, cell phones, or other electronic devise other than a computer because the Internet can do anything for you. It is the Swiss Army Knife of electronics, an all in one. The Internet has away of being ahead of the game and setting the trends that run our social lives. Many jobs use the Internet at all times and would now be nearly useless without the Internet. But that is where the problem lies I believe; the Internet is not making us dumber but instead being taken advantage of. If the Internet was a place without pornography, illegal downloading, or a place to buy your next essay then I do not think people would care enough to complain about the other sort of writing that goes on within it because the Internet would not be as big as it is. When TVs were first being introduced many did not think this would be good for humans but the TV helped change everything and help keep people informed and send messages to people all over. Yes it has its misuses also and can be a waste of time but what you must realize is the Internet is not sitting there forcing you to stay online, but it is instead people continuing to stay on because they are fascinated with what they see. The Internet can be used as a bad tool but so can anything else and it is not the Internets fault but it is the human’s faults who run the Internet and make all these sites.

Having only grown up with having the Internet it makes me think how much harder it would be without it, but we all do that when some new technology comes out. And the worst part is that it was very possible to live without and so many other people did live without it, but that is how humans evolve, we started with language, then pictures, writing, books, the printing press, the television, and now the Internet. Our form of writing may be changing but it always has been and always will. It is a weird realization that one day there will be something that will be more integrated into our lives than Internet and will have a far larger impact than the Internet did, but it is always great because it is a sign of evolution and way for people to make there lives more simple and give them an easier way of gathering information.  The Internet has changed the way humans interact for the time being until some new technology comes out but we can see the Internet as a sign towards a better more well educated world that may one day solve many of its problems and reach more of a better civilization for humans. The Internet is a great new tool!

Sources

Hedges, Chris. "America the Illiterate." Thruthdig. Thruthdig, 10 Nov. 2008. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. <http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081110_america_the_illiterate/>.

Sullivan, Andrew. "Why I Blog - Magazine - The Atlantic." The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Life – TheAtlantic.com. Nov. 2008. Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/why-i-blog/7060/>.