Never Better or Better Never?
The Never-Betters believe that we are on the brink of a new utopia, where information will be free and democratic, news will be made from the bottom up, love will reign, and cookies will bake themselves.The Better-Nevers think that we would have been better off if the whole thing had never happened, that the world that is coming to an end is superior to the one that is taking its place, and that books create private space for minds. The Ever-Wasers insist that at any moment in modernity something like this is going on, and that a new way of organizing data and connecting users is always thrilling to some and chilling to others; that this is what makes it a modern moment.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/02/14/110214crat_atlarge_gopnik
How Has the Internet Changed Us?
The internet has not changed the way we think,” argues Joshua Greene, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. It “has provided us with unprecedented access to information, but it has not changed what [our brains] do with it.” “Electronic media are not going to revamp the brain’s mechanisms of information processing,” writes cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker. “Texters, surfers, and twitterers” have not trained their brains “to process multiple streams of novel information in parallel."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/229843
With so much discussion about how the internet is changing journalism and media, there’s surprisingly little said about how writing itself has transformed. But it has changed in a dramatic if subtle way. Concerns about the internet hurting writing feel overblown. Instant messaging invited a breezy, fast-thinking tone; blog comments sharpened our debate skills; Twitter enforced even more economy onto our words. In all of these, we were nudged toward something all writers aspire to: a strong, distinct voice.
http://gigaom.com/2010/01/03/how-the-internet-changed-writing-in-the-2000s/
Children who read and write more are better at reading and writing. Writing blog posts, status updates, text messages, instant messages, and the like all motivate children to read and write. There is a correlation between children’s engagement with social media and their literacy. Simply put, social media has helped children become more literate. Indeed, Eurostat recently published a report drawing a correlation between education and online activity, which found that online activity increased with the level of formal activity.
Writers will have to change the way they write
"Over the last couple of years, I've really noticed if I sit down with a book, after a few paragraphs, I'll ask: You know, where's the links? Where's the e-mail? Where's all the stuff going on?" says writer Nicholas Carr. The internet is training us to read in a distracted and disjointed way, he argues. But does that mean writers will have to change the way they write to capture the attention of an audience accustomed to this new way of reading? Carr thinks the answer is yes.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122026529
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