Week 15 Journal

What role does technology play in everyday writing and composing?

Technology has played a huge role in everyday writing and composing in that the texts can spread infinitely faster than before.  Distribution is a huge part writing.  Famous writings would never have been popular if not first distributed to the eyes and ears of everyone.  Technology also allows people to create more perfect texts.  This is purely because of word processing and spell/grammar check.  Without these technologies people would be send people PDF's of every document.  Also with the rise of technology in the 21st century came the death of the newspaper and magazine.  Almost all composing today is done on a computer because it is much easier to edit a word document than a handwritten paper.  Also shipping and printing is now irrelevant and outdated.  In the end many different types of technology has altered every kind of composing and everyday writing.

LAST JOURNAL!!

Technology has played a major role in the writing community. It has made it easier to be a published writer and to casually write. Computers and the internet provide an effective medium between everyday writing and it's circulation to readers which has allowed the practice of writing to be more convenient and accessible.

The article states that elders have started using email more and more. Technology has changed so much in their lifetime. With majority of the population being younger than them, the advancements have forced the elderly to learn how to use technology to communicate with those younger than them. For example, my grandparents and I Skype on a normal basis. However, until a few months ago, they not know how to operate the technology that they use to Skype (iPad). I have to call them and they need to hear it ring in order to use it. In a way, these calls have helped them learn how to utilize technology more and more, and now they use the iPad to text and email me. This technology has increased the number of people who partake in everyday writing and sharing.

In addition to allowing an easier medium for the composition of different everyday texts, technology has allowed us to advance our everyday writing. We now have the ability to look up information, confirm our ideas, and communicate with sources. This has helped in many regards. As a college student with limited access to television and the news, I rely on the unreliable sources of Facebook and Twitter for my news. The everyday texts that make up my news that I see on my newsfeed, is able to be verified with just a few clicks on google.

Week 15 Journal

What role does technology play in everyday writing and composing?

Whether it is printed media or digital media, technology is present in all types of writing and composing. If it weren't for technology, writing wouldn't exist. The technology does not need to be digital, it can merely be a pen and a piece of paper. Technology aids the process of writing; it allows humans to communicate amongst each other and it also allows the distribution of ideas to happen easily. When it comes to everyday writing this is especially true. The purpose behind everyday writing is to communicate between two or more people or groups of people, and the writing itself has a purpose. With technology, especially digital technology, people can express their ideas and compose easily and spread their ideas to the people that they want to communicate whether that is one person or the whole world (i.e. spam).

Technology not only aides everyday writing and composing, but it also creates new genres within everyday writing as well. Letters became phone calls which then became e-mails and then Facebook then Twitter and Snapchat which are all new forms of everyday "writing". Friends in reality became followers digitally who then became internet celebrities who could influence far more people than you as one person could because they became models for our culture. What was a person who couldn't afford new clothes then became someone who was thrifty after the crash of the Stock Market who then became a "hipster" in modern ages. Technology allows everyday "texts" to circulate and spread ideas and connect people who choose to be a part of those ideas. Technology doesn't just have a role in everyday writing and composing, it has become everyday writing itself as well as being a person's aide in composing that writing.

Week 15

What role does technology play in everyday writing and composing?

Technology has allowed for new was of creating and sharing writing. As new technologies are created they are not given attention because they are a new technology but rather because they provide some kind of service or use that makes it easier for someone or a group of people. The ability to communicate more easily allows for collaboration to happen and people learning from others. Technology allows for writing to be about more than just writing and has become a way of using writing to teach each other and learn from each other on more than just things that were common before the new technology. Now any topic was fair game when writing because there was a wider audience for the writing and the writers had more motivation to write. When writing the writer knew that they could get feedback from what they write that would allow them to learn in return for what they are providing. Some examples of how technology has changed everyday writing are blogs, social networking websites, and online review boards. Blogs are used to put information about a person or topic out to a place where a large community can access it. This focus on a specific community changes the way that the writing is composed it is written with words that are specific to that community. The physical composition of writing has also changes due to technology; it has progressed from scratching in stone to using pen and paper to a printing press and now to computers, which offer a variety of different ways of creating a text.

Week 15 Journal

What role does technology play in everyday writing and composing? 

Technology has played a huge role in everyday writing and composing. It has given us the opportunity to make writing easy, and taking advantage of this opportunity serves you well. It gives us a way to learn, share knowledge, and be apart of something in a convenient way. People of all ages have come to realize the opportunity that technology hold and like it said in the reading "if a tool is useful, people will use it" which hold true today. Many people who were unable or unwilling to use technology due to their age and lack of wanting to change their way soon came to realize how easy it could make their lives. "Looking at technology from a different perspective shows you how valuable it really is" is the outlook people should hold with technology. Its made mean of keeping up with family and friends, and sharing your life with them, very easy and stressless. Not only can you keep up with prior relationships, it gives you the opportunity to meet new people and hear what they have to say. The technology in todays world serves many purposes in our lives. It enables us to communicate, learn, rather than just one thing at a time, like a book where you can only learn from it, not give it more information. 

Week 15 Journal

Technology plays a huge role in everyday writing and composing by enabling mass communication. It is now possible for a piece of literature or important piece of news to reach a sizable audience in a matter of minutes. Not only has the speed increased but the diversity and geological spread of the people. The World Wide Web has created a world where people across the globe can communicate with each other with very little effort exerted.

Technology has also gotten people more involved in communication through the creation of social media. Everyday writing loses its appeal when a reaction by the audience cannot be seen by the person who created the exigency. Getting likes on a Facebook status or followers on Instagram or twitter can encourage a person to keep posting things onto digital media. These incentives didn’t exist (or at least were not as apparent) before technological advances which might be a reason as to why people did not write as much.

In regards to the readings question about what people do with their free time and why it should put towards more productive things, the answer is very simple. People like doing things they enjoy, which usually revolve around unproductive and lazy activities. The Z boys, as mentioned in the article, were able to take a relatively unproductive hobby (in terms of societal advancement) and transform the skateboarding culture worldwide. These hobbies that people do in their free time can generate new ideas and change cultures as is the case with the Z boys.

Week 15 Journal

Technology undoubtedly plays a significant role in everyday writing and composing. After reading the article, my view on its exact significance changed. Its role isn’t as lofty or essential as we have always assumed it to be. Technology is important, but what is more important is its function, and how we choose to utilize that function. This belief is expressed in our assigned reading, where Shirky states that some “articles came from a focus on the technical means rather than on the social opportunities of that communication”. He also makes a profound statement, saying, “No one wants e-mail for itself, any more than anyone wants electricity for itself; rather, we want the things electricity enables”. This supports the idea that technology itself isn’t as valuable as one may think. Having said that, the presence technology should not be overlooked. The ability to enjoy all of the things that e-mail enables, such as gossip, discussion, argument, etc. is not possible without the actual presence of the technology (e-mail). The same goes for electricity. The things that electricity enables, some of which includes light, television, etc. is not possible without the presence of the technology (electricity). Shirky made a very good point early in the reading when he said, “We create opportunities for one another that we wouldn’t otherwise have. By treating one another well (fairly, if not always nicely), we can create environments where the group can do more 98 Cognitive Surplus Opportunity 99 than the individuals could on their own”. That is probably my favorite line of his in the entire reading, and I couldn’t agree any more with that sentiment. This brings back up the concept of collaboration. The ability and willingness to cooperate with others is almost always beneficial to all parties involved. I thought the quote Shirky used from Farrell was interesting. Farrell states, "Most collaborative circles consist of a core group who interact frequently and a peripheral 'extended' group who vary in their degree of involvement. The core comprises those members who meet together on a regular basis, discuss their work, and through their interaction develop a new vision, while the extended group disseminates the ideas arising from the core”. The way that Farrell separates divides the concept of collaboration into two more distinct groups is quite interesting.