Shift in forum posting style over time

[isiolia]

"People read and write more now" but are we counting all the reading and writing that goes on via social media?

Probably. Either way, it's nothing new, as has been pointed out.

[Exhuminator]

Idiocracy is quite literally eugenics propaganda

It's not exactly the second coming of Brave New World.

By the way, the "AHDH Generation", "instant gratification" and other "no attention spans" comments have been around for decades

But the internet and social media hasn't. Disregarding the bearing of these new cultural phenomenons upon societal evolution is a bit short sighted.

I think you meant "ADHD", not "AHDH".

People also read now more than they have ever had, and they write orders of magnitude more than they used to.

Just at 140 characters a time is all.

[Ziggy]

Idiocracy is quite literally eugenics propaganda

It's not exactly the second coming of Brave New World.

It has nothing to do with eugenics at all. The two example couples that procreated in the movie are both white Americans. It has nothing to do with genetics or race. It's about environment, upbringing, social groups, that sort of thing. It's the bet that Winthrop and Mortimer made in Trading Places. And that wasn't even the whole explanation that the narration gave. Besides, the cause wasn't the important part.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm still a big proponent of the "old internet." Small forums, big posts, lots of content and info.

Sometimes I'll visit a subreddit (or something similar) dedicated to an interest of mine. It's mostly short quips, "jokes", memes, fake accounts, and an obscenely large number of anonymous users. There doesn't seem to be any camaraderie or mutual respect among members and I don't bother to post as I feel like I'd just be shouting into a void.

[Tanooki]

People thought Idiocracy was a low tier comedy. It isn't. It's a documentary from the future.

That just gave me a depressing mental shiver effect. :\


Wow this blew up in a way I hadn't expected both in length and a side topic onto its own too going beyond just the forums. Perhaps you're onto something with the social media where have far more conversation, but it's limited to blurbs and little thought behind it. It doesn't mean crap if you have far more info and write more stuff, if it's just the same limited quick spurt garbage even if you're producing far more of it.

It's amusing you find with those types some huge turn off to having a block of text that exists longer than maybe 3 sentences before you do a character break for another part because oh my..."walloftext" stop already comments roll out. Is it that hard to read and think larger than 30 second bits of text let alone form a proper response other than shitty snark to try and peer pressure/fear others into being an impatient moron too?

[Ziggy]

Those quotes are very interesting, but I think it's besides the point. It's not how many people are reading and writing today versus other years, or how long or brief the writings are. Of the people that CAN read and write, how many of them can do it well? The reading and writing skills of some of my co-workers are horrific. I meant to give leniency to the writing style of Twitter, etc, that being (most often) an informal setting with often character limits almost excuses it. But surely writing an email to a friend should be different. And especially, writing an email to a co-worker.

And when I say "horrific" I mean just that. Too many times I've sent out an email to a co-worker and got a response that makes almost no sense, as if the response was to something else. Too many times have I received an email from a co-worker that looked more like a Twitter post than a professional email.

It's one thing to think how much worse the new generation is turning out. I understand that every generation has felt this way. But I'm talking about people from my own generation, and sometimes even the generation before me!

[Sarge]

It's one thing to think how much worse the new generation is turning out. I understand that every generation has felt this way. But I'm talking about people from my own generation, and sometimes even the generation before me!

This. I don't even think it's a generational thing, I've got problems with all sorts of folks regarding this. Seeing the death of critical thinking, and especially the death of good, solid writing skills, absolutely kills me. I'm not asking for perfect, grammatically-accurate sentences. Just legibility. Readability. Enough for me to understand what you want.

[o.pwuaioc]

"People read and write more now" but are we counting all the reading and writing that goes on via social media?

Probably. Either way, it's nothing new, as has been pointed out.

Yes, but are they wrong? "Everyone says it" isn't an argument against anything if it's actually correct.

When's the last time you wrote a letter in pen to a dear friend? Now, when's the last time you texted somebody a sentence or two?

[Exhuminator]

It's one thing to think how much worse the new generation is turning out. I understand that every generation has felt this way. But I'm talking about people from my own generation, and sometimes even the generation before me!

This. I don't even think it's a generational thing, I've got problems with all sorts of folks regarding this. Seeing the death of critical thinking, and especially the death of good, solid writing skills, absolutely kills me. I'm not asking for perfect, grammatically-accurate sentences. Just legibility. Readability. Enough for me to understand what you want.

And even when people do write large letters, the sub-par syntax and parsing is what usually gets me. It's one thing to be able to write huge paragraphs of stream of conscious thoughts. It's another thing entirely to format that blurb of words into comfortably readable blocks of information for others. Not to mention keeping a consistent theme of intent, while reaching a conclusive point with actual purpose. I have no problem reading large posts, when they are formatted with other people's ability to comprehend them in mind. Ack is a good example of someone who does this consistently well.

[Ziggy]

When's the last time you wrote a letter in pen to a dear friend? Now, when's the last time you texted somebody a sentence or two?

Text messages are very useful, but people use them too much in replace of letters/email when (in my mind) they should only be used like pagers.

From time to time, I'll have a back and forth via text with a friend that I haven't spoken to in a while. I would much prefer emailing such a person back and forth (we email these days, not write pen and paper letters). Texting to me is more for...

Me: What time you coming home?
You: 5
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