This essay is intended for skeptics. Skeptics of the new and changing world of literacy. While I understand the new labels that are being placed on the new generation Y because of their use and reliance on new technology, I feel that this is an unfair assumption. To say that the uses of new technology are only diminishing our literacy rates is like saying the adaption of horse and buggy only lead people to obesity and laziness. While I do agree that there are some negative impacts of things like the Internet, all to often I feel that the positive implications are overlooked. There are many progressive and advantageous things that have come with the advancement of technology both in the reading and writing portions of literacy. Blogs, emails and news sites all provide easy access to information and have allowed our society to increase their reading and writing habits. So to all the skeptics, read and reflect on all the ways in which we can use the Internet to our advantage.
Change can be scary for a lot of us. The idea that things will not be like what we have known, what we have learned to trust. Unpredictable can be daunting but it is also exciting and can have many benefits. When the printing press was invented many were skeptical that it would promote idleness in literacy because of the accessibility of books (Carr 7). It took out the search that intellectuals had to endure. Now, we are faced with the same question; will the accessibility of information make intellectuals lazy and unable to search for their own answers? Many people are skeptical of the impact that the Internet will have on the latest generation, thinking it will only hurt the literary skills that have been acquired, however many scholars have ventured that perhaps instead of stunting society’s literacy, literacy in today’s world is simply changing. Like the printing press, my proposal is that perhaps this is not a literary apocalypse but instead a literacy renaissance.
While it could be argued that less reading in today’s world is with books or newspapers, I do not think that today’s society reads less in general. In her article discussing the definition of literacy Scribner observes that, “[l]iteracy has neither a static nor a universal essence” (Scribner 8). Proposing that perhaps instead of becoming more illiterate, our society is just changing its form of literacy. Instead of going to library’s, our books are available online and instead of buying books at the bookstore we can by them on amazon for our kindle. The world of reading is changing but not in that we aren’t reading at all, we are just reading in different ways.
Some of the criticisms state that today’s uses of the Internet are primarily for social purposes and Carr agrees in his article titled Is Google Making Us Stupid? In the article Carr argues that “[n]ever has a communications system played so many roles in our lives –or exerted such a broad influence over our thoughts” proposing that the Internet is slowly taking over our life (Carr, 5). However, though
I do agree that typed texts such as books and newspapers are not as popular in today’s world, I would argue that this is simply because these resources are now easier to access online. Carr is dismissing the many benefits that the Internet has provided to society in personal lives as well as its use in many different fields of work.
For research within the medical field, the Internet is essential tool for reading material. In a study done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on information use in National Institute of Health (NIH) laboratories, Grefsheim and her team concluded from their study that “[j]ournals were the single most important information resource for biomedical researchers in this study, and online journals were overwhelmingly preferred by all types of scientists and all age groups” (Grefsheim). Protesting that online journals are a fast and common way of obtaining information that is needed for innovative studies, allowing the researcher to understand more fully their method and process. Not only was this the most popular way of obtaining material for researchers but for all generations as well, demonstrating that it is not just the young generation that takes advantage of the vast access to information available on the web but other generations as well. The research world is based on the building off others ideas and with the access to information that is available now this is easier to do. This instant access allows us to interpret what is already known and also to expand and question this intelligence, pushing our knowledge of the world to greater heights. In an article distributed by the American Medical Association researchers Marshall and Haley argue that a collaborative medical research site is essential to efficiency in the laboratory setting. This idea that the Internet allows researchers to access information quickly and easily both from their own lab and laboratories around the world is not a new one. Not only is this resource used to find information on certain processes but also to share results and new ideas to researchers around the world. These results show the positive affect that the instantaneous access to information can provide.
Another place where use of the Internet has become irreplaceable is in journalistic writing. Not only can the Internet be used as a source of information in this environment but also can be used to get your article out quickly and easily to vast amounts of people. The Internet can be used to delve deeper into certain aspects of research, suddenly when writing an article on India, you have thousands of articles at your fingertips in seconds. You are not only able to look at many different articles but you have many different viewpoints on certain issues at your discretion. The Internet also allows easier communication between people in the journalistic field. For example, no longer do you have to interview in person but you can simply sit down at your desk and set up a video chat with whomever you are trying to speak with. This allows a broader variety of people that you can include as sources. If writing a piece on the struggling economy in Greece, you can talk to those directly impacted without having to leave the country. You can get first accounts instead of simply adopting implications. In the journalistic field the Internet has provided accuracy of sources and facts as well as presenting an easier way to communicate within the field and to a wider audience.
The world of writing has also been impacted by the shift to the wireless world. Although writing letters is now very rarely a primary source of communication that does not mean that today’s society does not write. Email is a hugely popular tool that is available to a vast number of people. This is a form of writing that takes a lot of skill and conscience thought. While you could just be writing to a friend you haven’t talked to in awhile, email is now also being used to apply for jobs, contact important coworkers and even to conduct business transactions such as buying a car or renting a house for the weekend. Emailing can both be extremely formal or surprisingly informal. Thompson agrees stating that people are mastering the ability of “adapting their tone and technique to best get their point across” and even that technology is “pushing our literacy in bold new directions” (Thompson 1). Thompson thus demonstrates that although we are not writing in ways that we previously did in the past our writing throughout our daily lives has only increased.
As a college student you can learn this first hand. Between writing essays for class, responding to the ten or so emails received a day, updating your facebook status or even just sending your friend a ‘Have a nice day!’ text, it seems as though the writing never stops. I do realize that the fact that I am enrolled in collegiate leveled courses automatically gives me certain literacy rates, but through social media sites and emails it seems almost impossible to live in the modern world and not be literate in some form of formal writing.
Sullivan also agrees that the world of writing has only diversified within the last few decades. In his article, Why I Blog, he discusses the changing world of literature and writing. While reading on paper has become less popular and the world of blogging has only thrived because of it. In this new world of literature the reader “needs to be engaged rather than merely absorbed” (Sullivan 9) proposing that instead of becoming less literate we are just learning different forms of expressing our writing and reading in different contexts.
In the writing sense, blogs provide a space for any writer well trained or not to express their opinions, views and ideas. In this sense people are becoming more literate because writers all over the world no longer need to spend time “finding an outlet, impressing editors…and proof reading edits” but simply get to post whatever (and whenever) they desire and it can be read worldwide (Sullivan 3). In this sense, people are encouraged to write more and write for more purposes than purely for a teacher, a diary or to inform grandma how you are doing.
All in all, while some would argue that the world is only becoming more illiterate since the advancement of the Internet, I would contend instead that perhaps instead of reading less, are definition of literacy is simply changing. While we used to read newspapers, books and articles that were found on paper they are all now found on the Internet and can be accessed more easily that way. Through blogs, news sites and online library’s people’s forms of reading have simply changed and become more interactive. The amount that people write has changed as well and because of this the average person is writing more and while some forms are more formal than others it has still become an integral part of our society. Throughout the years our definition of literacy has changed and developed with new advances in technology. The printing press allowed books and newspapers to be more widely accessible thus making literacy rates jump to higher rates than ever before, I am simply proposing that the Internet has done the same.
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