Number of Posts: 36
Posts 31 - 36
Autocorrect and the Tao of Texting
Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 6.2.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | autocorrect, misunderstanding, texting
Summary | Most people are annoyed by the automatic correction (autocorrect) program installed on their smartphones by default. It changes typos in text messages but often misunderstand's the writer's intention. Autocorrect can feel like an uninvited content sabotage of one's messages. If we however did not have autocorrect, our messages would likely all be mistyped to the degree of non-intellegibility. Autocorrect, through its seeming random misunderstandings opens up opportunities for philosophic though or "gives voice to the voiceless" such as cats or babies playing with phones and autocorrect stepping in to 'translate'. So while autocorrect can be annoying, fun can be had with it as well.
Image Description | Illustration of one of the exemplified autocorrect mishaps: woman reading an autocorrected (visualized) message about a woman having had a bear attack (should have said heart attack).
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone
Can Texting Fill an Empty Nest?
Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 17.9.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, social media, texting, youth
Summary | Many parents find themselves very lonely when their children leave the nest for college. New media have enabled parents to stay in touch with their children conveniently and cost-efficiently. Many parents report to text their children at college multiple times a day. Other parents use social media to keep an eye on the activities of their sons and daughters. The youths are split on which way of communicating with their parents they prefer – some would never want their parents to follow them on social media while others appreciate the low maintenance in just keeping parents updated like that.
Image Description | Illustration of a woman sitting in a youth’s rather empty bedroom.
Image Tags | female(s)
A boyfriend's flirty texts with other women: Are they a glitch or a pattern?
Newspaper | Washington Post
Date | 4.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | texting
Summary | Infidelity in texting is as hurtful as infidelity in person. A women laments about how her boyfriend texts flirtatiously with other women and how he somehow thought that was OK. They both check each other’s text messages regularly to maintain trust in the relationship. The flirtatious texting, even if it was just that and nothing else, was still perceived as very hurtful by the girlfriend.
Image Description | N/A
Stop Your 'Dying,' It's Killing Me
Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 29.11.2015
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | texting, youth
Summary | Digital writing culture, be it texting or posting on social media, has developed a widespread obsession with grotesque exaggerations. An example would be the fading popularity of LOL while statements such as “I’m literally dying” have become commonplace to express hilarity. Other staples for expressing strong feelings towards something in texting are “feels”, “YAAASS”, or “I can’t even” among many others. Although hyperbole has a long history as a stylistic device, contemporary online culture seems to have reached new levels.
Image Description | Illustration of a skeleton sitting in a coffin and taking a selfie.
Image Tags | male(s), selfie
Why Handwriting Is Still Important
Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 31.8.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | childhood, texting, word/writing
Summary | People are outraged after a journalist claims that handwriting is becoming a useless skill. Opponents are referencing instances where writing is unavoidable, such as signing a legal document, or is more appropriate, such as writing love letters or letters of condolence. Learning to write longhand is also very important for children to develop various skills.
Image Description | Black and white staged photograph from Getty: hand holding a pen and writing on a piece of paper.
Image Tags | hand(s)
A Full Stop for Periods? Okay. Fine.
Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 10.6.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | punctuation, texting, youth
Summary | Linguist David Crystal describes how the period of full stop punctuation mark is no longer used routinely in instant messaging. Because messages are usually short single-sentence fragments, full stops are not necessary for a good understanding of text messages. Not only are full stops routinely omitted, they also have become a marker for discontent or insincerity which was even empirically confirmed in a study. Further, the repetition of punctuation marks is also more commonplace than adhering to formal (school) writing standards in text messaging. Abbreviations like “lol” which were very popular among youths in previous years have become outdated because adults have now started using them.
Image Description | Portrait of linguist David Crystal.
Image Tags | male(s)
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