New Era
Speed Reading
*I’m
not really happy with my intro. I also
don’t really know if the overall structure is that good. I made an initial plan, but it wasn’t lengthy
enough so I just sorta kept adding stuff.
Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.
The readers
and writers of today are very different from their counterparts of the
past. With new technologies like
personal computers, smart phones, and the internet, information is easier to
access than ever. People can stay in
touch instantly by using their phones, email, or the many social networking
websites, like Facebook and Twitter. Today’s
readers don’t spend hours in libraries, looking through countless books for
research. Now they search the web and
information is just a click away. This
trend has had some painful effects on many print industries. Many newspapers have switched to online publications,
because most people don’t go out and buy newspapers anymore. The book store borders went out of business,
because of the increased popularity of eBooks.
I believe this change is just a natural shift. With increased technology there is trend that
is moving away from printed writing, and moving toward electronic writing. Electronic writing cuts down on paper waste and
is more easily distributed. We are
clearly in the midst of a literary shift and it will be interesting to see what
direction we literates are heading in.
Some would
argue this shift in reading and writing habits is detrimental. The internet itself has had a powerful impact
on the way we read nowadays. The types
of readers that the internet is spitting out are impatient. Nicholas Carr notes that “what the Net seems
to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” People don’t stop to read long articles on the
internet. They “power browse” through
the web, and are always moving forward, while rarely going backwards. People also now enjoy the ease of eBooks and
online news. Many bookstores, like
Borders, have gone out of business, and most newspapers today are published
solely online. Chris Hedges would argue
that this digital age is cultivating a “semi-literate” population who only
understand “images and slogans.” He
talks about how these people lack “the ability to think for oneself,” and that
politicians will take advantage of that to gain control. These arguments paint a dark picture, but I
don’t think it’s all that bad. The
transition to electronic writing cuts back on logging for paper. Anything that saves trees can’t be that
bad. With newspapers going online, they
have become more accessible. I always
thought those old newspapers were too large and cumbersome. Hedges would tell you that today’s America is
a barely literate population, but I don’t believe this is the case. According to Lunsford’s study the kids of
today are reading more than ever before, and I think this trend will continue.
I think the
digital reading and writing shift is a good one. The internet has made information incredibly
accessible. Students today don’t have to
spend hours in libraries to gather their research. They are a web search away from incredible
amount of good and bad information. It
is up to the reader to judge the value of what they are reading. Today’s readers may not read lengthy articles
or even books anymore, but they read more than you’d think. They “power browse” through web pages, never
stopping, but instead, they look for the main idea and judge the value of what
they see. Social media sites like
Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are a wonderful new source of reading and
writing. In them people can share their
thoughts and experiences with their friends in a live feed. Many people today will spend hours just
reading about what their friends have been doing or thinking. I wouldn’t necessarily call Facebook or its
ilk a formal literary medium, but it can’t be argued that thousands of people
read and write on social networking sites on a regular basis. I have to say that I think the best example
of the way reading and writing have changed is the internet’s literary
medium. Yes, I’m talking about the blog.
Blogging
exemplifies how we as readers and writers have changed. Andrew Sullivan describes blogging as “instant
and global self-publishing.” “Instant
and global.” These two words go are the
foundations of blogging and also the direction our literary shift is heading
in. The majority of blog posts are
between 100 and 500 words (Link). This short length appeals to our short
attention spans. Like I said before,
today’s readers and writers are impatient.
The readers like blogs, because they are relatively short. Our attention drifts after a couple pages so
a short blog post is ideal. The writers
like blogging, because they can self-publish their work to a global audience
for free. This idea of “global
self-publishing” really wasn’t possible until the internet. This is bringing about a golden age for
writers. Any average Joe can go to a
site like Blogger and start his own blog with relatively little difficulty. This ease is unheard of. Before the internet, one would have to be a
recognized writer, or have access to a large sum of money to get published, but
that is no longer the case. I personally
have found blogging to be an incredibly fun way to express myself. I hadn’t blogged before this class, but I
think I’ll continue to do so after this class is over. It’s just fun being able to express myself,
and I hope the next generation of readers feels this way as well.
All of these
changes in reading and writing lead one to wonder… What’s next? Clearly our populations reading and writing
habits are changing. I believe the new
trend of impatience that is evident in today’s readers will lead to
increasingly short and to the point writings.
I also agree with Hedges in that the trend seems to be to a more image
based society. The internet bombards its
users with visual ads on basically every webpage, but these ads fund the
websites and keep them accessible to everyone.
These ads are aimed at the new
readers, by being getting their message across in the fastest and flashiest
way they can. It takes something special
to hold the attention of the new readers. In the future, I imagine publications will continue
to grow shorter and more image based, and electronic publications will become
the norm.
I think this
new shift in literacy is also having a profound effect on writing. Writing style changes based on the medium,
and the internet’s new writers exemplify
the current trend. They write what they
think as they think it. Blogging is the
end result of this. As Sullivan puts it,
“We blog now-as news reaches us, as facts emerge.” I believe blogs will continue to evolve and
grow until blogging is one of the main mediums that writers use to publish
their work. I also believe this writing
class is an example of how writing has changed.
I think this blog writing class model is fun, accessible, and will be
used in high school classes in the near future.
It is an easy way for students to publish their writing, and to view
their classmates writing. I think this
model will have a really cool impact on high schools and even middle
schools. With these new writing methods
I believe that we will continue to evolve as writers and the results will be
more writers than ever before.
These new
literary trends are shoving old habits aside.
People will continue to gravitate towards the ease of the digital age. It’s a natural progression. People are continuing to use eBooks as
opposed to hard copies, and it’s easy to see why. People can house an entire library of books
on their computer of tablet. EBooks are
cheaper and help save the environment, by cutting back on tree
consumption. Web research has made
researching projects for school exceptionally easier. I’ve never spent an extended period of time
doing research in a library, unless I was on the computer. Using mainly encyclopedias and books for
research is almost unheard of nowadays.
Everybody uses the internet. One
has to make the distinction between good and bad web sources, but that is an
easy trade off to make in exchange for the vast amount information available on
the web. Whether they like or not, it’s
tough to argue that readers and writers aren’t different, because of the
internet.
These
advances in technology have made me optimistic about our future. The internet has made it easier than ever
before to publish personal writing. I
hope in 10 or 20 years everyone’s blogging or whatever the equivalent may
be. Imagine young kids posting homework
on school blogs. The new writers will be intertwined by the
internet. Their work will be accessible
by a worldwide audience, and this global pool of information will continue to
grow. The “new readers” will swiftly
swim through the pool of information.
They’ll be able a click away from everything. It’ll be a golden age for writers.
Sources
- America the Illiterate By Chris Hedges
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