Michael Wesch and The New Literacy

I read the article The New Literacy. While I was prepared for the fact that I would not agree with all of the opinions stated in that article, I was surprised that I only agreed with a few of the statements. The professor John Sutherland believes that texting has destroyed the “crafty” essays that used to be written. As I don’t know him, I cannot be sure, but he doesn’t seem like a guy who would text, therefore, how would he know that texting is ruining the way teenagers are thinking, or writing? Andrea Lunsford said that we are writing more than any other generation! Isn’t that a good thing? We are writing all of the time! Whether it’s texting, blogging, or just typing on our laptops, we are writing more than ever. In my opinion, it’s more convenient to text, it’s just easier. I can text/ type longer than I can writing. My hands don’t get as sore, and I get more done in a more reasonable amount of time. I believe we are more conscious about what we write if it’s going somewhere else other than the teacher. We actually express ourselves! We talk about what interests us if we are blogging. No matter if it’s what movies are good, or whatever else they are interested in. WE LIKE PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO US!!!!! We can do that with blogs. We need a reason to write… and blogging IS a reason! People might actually care about what you’re thinking, but you’ll never know if you just hand in your essay to your teacher. Lastly, some professors think that we “text write.” I don’t know about anyone else, but I have never used a texting phrase in my writing, nor do I use them while I’m texting! Maybe other teenagers do, but I have never used the phrases “lol, ttyl, etc.” I don’t know of many kids who do. Every now and then, you might shorten a word, but I don’t think it’s a habit of mine. I also watched Michael Wesch's youtube video. I agree with it very much. It shows many of the infinite possibilities of the internet. It also shows how writing contrasts to texting. They're both just... different. Texting is ... simple. Easy. Nothing is holding us back. The whole system of the internet was designed to help us and simplify everything... and it has! Even though I disagree with some of the things in our article, I learned both opinions. I also wasn't too sure whose side I was on at the beginning, but somewhere within reading that first paragraph, my opinion turned from unsure to perfectly sure about who I agreed with.