Journal 1

                I believe writing has become revolutionary, but not fundamentally different. What I mean by that is, the mediums by which writing is created and shared have changed- we now have computers to type and social networks, like Facebook to share our work. The purpose though, for why one writes has remained the same- to persuade, inform or entertain, sometimes all three.

There is no denying that technology has influenced the way people write.  Prior to being able to simply type up a document on any laptop writers would have to write by hand on parchment and that was only accessible to people with money and a higher education. Today, technology has made it possible for people of all social classes, ethnicities and age definitely to share their writing on a bigger platform with an audience as diverse as themselves. One could even argue that technology has influenced writing to be done more often and correctly- people today want to stay in the loop of social media which requires them to write and share ideas, and no one wants to be that person who spells “their” wrong. Also, instead of it taking weeks for someone to receive your writing you’re able to receive it practically instantly through either e-mail or social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter; Having these options gives writing a different experience, in that it is more fluid. Social media gives people options to post statuses and have people respond right then and there keeping conversations and writing continuously going.

           

In summation, writing itself has not become different just simply the way it is done and that will continue to change as long as technology continues to boom. From writing on walls centuries ago, to paper, then typewriters and computers the overall purpose of writing is still the same.

Journal Response #1

In our reading by Gitelman and Pingree, we were presented with the views that technology and furthermore, writing within technology, is not totally revolutionary. Gitelman and Pingree discuss the terms "new" and "media" as both separately and as one word. We learn that our generation's idea of what new media is may not be technically correct. New media is considered to be the time frame of 1740-1915.  This is because these are the years where we can see how digital media came to be what it is today. Going off of that, throughout their essay, Gitelman and Pingree are basically saying that social media might seem revolutionary to us when looking back on the past and previous forms of media, but if we were to have been teenagers when the typewriter was invented, that would've seen just as equally revolutionary to us. New media is seen as new based on perspective. Other forms of media seem old to us because we are living in a time where technology is everywhere and extremely common. The digital revolution is no doubt a creation of new forms of media, but it is not completely revolutionary because it wasn't a separate occurrence from all the other forms of new media in the past. Digital media is just the next step in the long staircase of progress within writing. The digital revolution couldn't have happened without all of the  inventions between 1740 and 1915 and even after that. It is a product of everything that has occurred so far.   

That being said, I do believe that writing is a different experience with digital media. It has become a new act. While we are still trying to communicate with one another and express our thoughts, technology has changed the way we do it and allowed us to be more personal in some ways and more impersonal in others, sometimes both simultaneously. Now with digital media, we go about writing differently than we ever have before. While the desired result is the same as it has always been, the process is completely different and then therefore changes how we write. Also, now with the web, the internet, and social media, we can no longer control the desired result that we have. We can no longer control writing as much as we used to. With technology, writing can spread and more writing can be added on top of the original. It can be discussed and it can be changed. All of these factors make writing a different experience than it use to be. While the digital era is not revolutionary, it has changed the writing experience. 

Journal Post 1

Writing in the 21st century is undoubtedly different than ever before, but is it a wholly different experience? One still goes through the same mental processes of creating and communicating, but the   opportunities are far greater. More people may contribute to writing, and reach a greater audience.

Mass circulation from social media sites gives a writer or writers the ability to reach a greater audience. The audience is now able to give their input to the writing through comments, and writing becomes more of a conversation. The digital age has provided to writers the ease of creating online communities. Through simply searching a hashtag on Twitter, one can find news, respond to trending ideas, and even spark a movement. By following subreddits on Reddit, users can keep up with their favorite topics, ask questions, and find new ideas. Facebook allows friends and friends of friends to connect. They share their own ideas and the ideas they find on other sites. Online communities are formed through social media, where users may exchange ideas, stories, etc.

The speed at which this happens is what I believe to be revolutionary. One may connect to the entire world simply through a post. This allows more ideas to spread quicker and easier. More people are also able to contribute writing. Prior to the digital age, only author's works were read. With the rise of digital technology, anyone's ideas can circulate through social media. As long as someone has access to a computer, they may share their ideas with a larger community. The introduction of tablets and especially smart phones allows people to spend hours a day finding, sharing, and posting ideas to the internet. Writing is not a wholly different experience, but what happens to the writing is. The degree of circulation reached now is unparalleled to any other time throughout history.

Blog Response 1

            The means of writing has changed and adapted to the technologically advancing world, however, this does not mean the writing experience has changed completely. Throughout the last couple of centuries new technologies have revolutionized the way written language is transcribed and communicated by using old technologies as a template. The experience of writing may have been altered aesthetically, but it remains mostly the same process and result.

            In What’s New About Media Gitelman and Pingree argue against the irrelevance of “old media” and supersession. They claim that at some time all media was “new media” and that every piece of “old media” has historical significance in the pathway to the technologies we currently use. They also claim that the media used constructs perception of the world, which means that the message and the media are interrelated. Jim Porter tends to feel that the process of writing has changed over his personal career due to the advancements in typing and computer technology. I feel that writing itself has remained the same, although the audience has changed greatly. Social networking most noticeably has created an audience for anyone who has anything to write. The audience a rhetor is writing to may change what and how they write, but this has always been the case since written language was invented. 

Jackson Tarpley

Writing in the 21st century is a fundamentally different practice than it was in the previous centuries. I think writing in this day and age is so different because in most cases today, writing serves a different purpose than it did in previous decades and centuries. With the emergence of the Internet, and later social media, writing becomes a more personal experience. It also becomes a tool for almost anyone to use, not just the rich and elite. The fact that anyone can now publish information for the whole internet to see changes the way the we convey information. When writing was a limited practice there were books on philiosphy and religion, almong other important topics, while the majority of writing we see today is the furthest from scholarly. In fact, because of the emergence of technology, the process of writing has been simplified. Call it the 140 character limit, but there's just something different about writing process as a whole in this day and age.

Journal 1 (Melissa Kimball)

Writing has four basic components; the steps taken to put words on paper, the language used, how writing is distributed, and why people write. At first thought, you wouldn't think that writing in the twenty-first century is much different from writing a millennium ago, but we aren't writing on clay tablets and papyrus anymore. Today, we don't even have to touch pen to paper to get our ideas down. Most of the components of writing have changed in recent times. Forty years ago, you couldn't find a novel in your lap without even leaving the couch. Now you can find the next best-seller in just a few minutes.

When we think technology, we think computers and smart phones that can tell you where the closest Olive Garden is. That is, of course, technology, but so was a fountain pen and ink. Paper and typewriters was the hot, new technology once upon a time. How we get words on paper has changed drastically—we don’t even need paper anymore. In this sense, writing in the twenty-first century is completely different than previous writing experiences. Paper has become white pixels, ink has become Times New Roman size twelve, and publishing houses have turned into a wireless signal.

Language has also changed drastically. Humankind has gone from misspelling during the Dark Age because of illiteracy to misspelling during the Digital Age because "bae is a QT." Slang changes with every generation, and the subjects people write about change with the introduction of new technology. We no longer write about the feudal lord and chamber pots. Who wants to read about a chamber pot when we can read about the new Audi concept car?

The way writing is distributed to its audience is the component that has changed the most. It isn’t only the upper class who can read and write, and books don’t cost a month’s salary. What used to take even a simple sentence several days to travel, we now have access to billions upon billions of articles, novels, comic books, and statuses with just a simple Google search. The audience has become global, and sharing content has become instant.

The only thing that hasn’t changed about writing, is the reasons to put our thoughts into words. We write to inform, we write to persuade, we write to entertain, and, most importantly, we write to communicate. Yes, writing in the twenty-first century is drastically different from writing in previous times, but we are still writing.

Journal 1

I definitely believe that writing has changed as a result of digital technology. The growth of technology and other new things in the twenty-first century have shaped the way that writing is created, interpreted and evaluated. The way a writer writes changes with their writing medium, and this is true with technology. A writer will write differently if they are writing online compared to say, a textbook. Writing has changed for professional writers and people who write for a living, but technology has also changed writing for regular people who write during their everyday life.

            Some could say that writing has become more informal and more relaxed as technology has grown. Many scholars would argue that our younger generation has less writing skills than older generations, and this could definitely be attributed to the growth of technology. Social Media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook have completely changed our idea of writing. Our generation has grown up texting, tweeting and instant messaging. We are used to abbreviating words, using emojis or emoticons, and using less than 140 characters to get our point across. This has resulted in many people of the millennial generation are unable to hold a professional conversation or write a competent work. Technology has made it easier for millennials to get through life without needing proficient writing skills or communication skills. Although it can be argued that technology has had negative effects on writing, there are definitely some positive effects of technology on writing.

            Technology has helped to spread the circulation and audience of important and well-known works. Before technology, writing could only be acquired through ways like books themselves, but now, through forms of technology like the Internet, digital bookstores and many other forms, readers can now find a work at the tip of their fingers. Most people in our society have some sort of access to technology or the Internet, so they can easily find a work of writing, whereas before technology, it was difficult for some people to do so.  There are both pros and cons to the effects of technology on writing. While technology has weakened some people’s writing skills, it has helped to expand the field of writing and has made it more accessible to our society.