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Alexis Lee
ENC 1011
Professor McGriff
October 25th, 2019
Texting and Social Media declining communication skills?
My parent’s always say “we didn’t have social media when I was your age”. People think
that social media and texting have corrupted this country and my generation. Schools even offer
a face to face interaction class. Although many people believe that communication skills are
declining due to texting and social media, I think that the use of texting and social media has not
limited the ways in which people communicate, damaged the use of the English language, and
they have enlarged our social interaction and vocabulary.
Many people think texting and social media have limited the ways people communicate,
because we can text or call someone instead of talking to them face to face. We have the ability
to send a picture on snap chat instead of typing a sentence, explaining what we are doing. As I
agree with texting has limited the way we communicate I also believe that it has broaden the way
in which one talks. We have more ways to communicate to people around the world. For
example, on Facebook, I am friends with people all around the country and a few that are out of
the country. I would have never interacted with them without this social media platform.
The next thing that people claim social media and texting have damaged is the use of the
English language. However, I do not agree with this at all because you can look words up to
know the meaning or if your confused on what word to use. According to David Crystal, “there
is increasing evidence that it helps rather than hinders literacy”. I agree with this because when
you are texting you still use the English language even when you abbreviate. Just because you
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break the rules of the English language while your texting doesn’t mean you follow them when
your talking. Like John McWorter says in his ted talk, “people break the rules of the language all
the time. No one speaks proper now like they did in the 1900’s.”
The last thing that texting and social media have done is it has enlarged our social interaction and
vocabulary. Many people do not agree with this because how can it enlarge when you only have
so many followers or friends on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Well, when one posts and they
tag people in it the friends of the other people see it. When you post on Instagram it goes to the
“pictures your tagged in” page. Proponents of social media say that the online communities
promote increased interaction with friends and family, while it also offers teachers, librarians,
and students’ valuable access to educational support and materials, according to this article on
ProCons.org. It’s also helped our vocabulary expand because now instead of have to use a
dictionary to look up a word, you go to google and boom it’s there for you, definition and all.
So, I believe that texting and social media has done good for our community and world as
a whole, without we wouldn’t know what goes on in the next county. We would have the ability
to know people from all around the world. So yes, texting and social media are enlarging our
communication and vocabulary, along with multiple other things.
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Work cited
Crystal, David. “2b Or Not 2b: David Crystal on Why Texting Is Good for
Language.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 July 2008,
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jul/05/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview.
McWhorter, John. “Txtng Is Killing Language. JK!!!” TED,
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk.
McWhorter, John. “Is Texting Killing the English Language?” Time, Time, 25 Apr. 2013,
http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/25/is-texting-killing-the-english-language/.
“OMG: Social Media May Wreck Your Kid's Writing: Comunidades Virtuales y Redes
Sociales En Educación.” Scoop.it, 26 Nov. 2013, https://www.scoop.it/topic/comunidades-
virtuales-y-redes-sociales-en-educacion/p/4011722020/2013/11/27/omg-social-media-may-
wreck-your-kid-s-writing.
“Pros & Cons - ProCon.org.” Social Networking, https://socialnetworking.procon.org/.
