Author Topic: How Professional Are We?  (Read 15474 times)

Unblinking

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Reply #25 on: October 23, 2012, 01:58:34 PM
For work I'm forced to spend more time on Twitter than I would prefer. I find it is eroding my communication skills.

Ugh.  Twitter makes me feel like my brain is being aerated.



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Reply #26 on: October 23, 2012, 02:50:07 PM
For work I'm forced to spend more time on Twitter than I would prefer. I find it is eroding my communication skills.

Ugh.  Twitter makes me feel like my brain is being aerated.
I'm with you on that.
I've spent the last two days compiling a social media impact report for a large Academic Publisher. It's amusing to read hundreds of tweets arguing about open access. Very short arguments. Incomplete sentences. Lots of #hashtags. Till I can't speak @my normal level. Though my bright spot in all of it was that  I discovered viral content that I was able to include about Pooping Penguins being seen from space.  
« Last Edit: October 23, 2012, 02:54:09 PM by eytanz »



eytanz

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Reply #27 on: October 23, 2012, 02:54:55 PM
Maybe I'm being prudish, but I'd rather keep the pictures of pooping penguins limited to threads that have something to do with pooping or penguins.



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Reply #28 on: October 23, 2012, 04:45:58 PM
I wish to offer a dissenting opinion: Twitter can help you develop more direct communication skills in the same way that Flash Fiction can focus an author into fitting a compelling story into the constraints of the format. 

I've twatted before (that's the proper term, yes?) with something that initially went almost a hundred characters over then went back and chopped mercilessly until I fit the 140 character limit without sounding like an attention-addled teenager.  No for=4, you=U etc abbreviations; just real english.

It's a fun exercise.  Here, I'll try to use this skill on this rambling post I just wrote:

"Twitter skills can tighten your prose the same way Flash Fiction does. The 140 character limit really makes you sharpen your writing blade."

See, it's not the same as the previous three paragraphs, but it communicates the same message.  Also, 140 characters.  :D



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Reply #29 on: October 23, 2012, 06:19:11 PM
"Twitter skills can tighten your prose the same way Flash Fiction does. The 140 character limit really makes you sharpen your writing blade."
This I can agree with. I do love practicing brevity in my writing. However it's not the conciseness of Twitter or texting, that I detest, but  the shortcuts. B4, RU, Plz, etc. I hate the fact that my phone is preprogrammed to even recognize these as acceptable words. THIS is what's going to kill our language.

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Unblinking

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Reply #30 on: October 23, 2012, 08:39:28 PM
"Twitter skills can tighten your prose the same way Flash Fiction does. The 140 character limit really makes you sharpen your writing blade."
This I can agree with. I do love practicing brevity in my writing. However it's not the conciseness of Twitter or texting, that I detest, but  the shortcuts. B4, RU, Plz, etc. I hate the fact that my phone is preprogrammed to even recognize these as acceptable words. THIS is what's going to kill our language.

Yeah, I can buy that.  And if you want practice, you can submit Twabble stories to the Drabblecast and maybe get published on their show.  :)



DoWhileNot

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Reply #31 on: October 24, 2012, 01:34:45 AM
People throughout history have complained that thing A or reason B will kill a thing, but what they're really complaining about isn't the killing of the thing but the changing of the thing, and all you have to do is look at the hundreds of languages that die out because they couldn't change and adapt to know that change isn't what kills the thing.

A number of years ago there was a big antitrust lawsuit against a company that made slide rules because they had a monopoly on the market.  They failed to adapt to changing times and now nobody even remembers the company.

The fact that English changes doesn't mean it's about to die.  Currently we have a cell phone sub dialect evolving, and if it's strong enough and popular enough then maybe some of the words will end up in a dictionary.  Not every word will - remember, language is a big popularity contest, and not every word will win.  Thomas Edison wanted everyone to say, "Ahoy!" When they answered the telephone, but "hello" became more popular and thus became a word... before 1840 or so it didn't exist.

Chaucer, considered one of the greats, was a crappy speller and punctuator... partly because before him there was no concept that a word had to be spelled one specific way.  He was the one who solidified the spelling of lots of words because people started spelling things the way he did... and he didn't even use consistent spelling.

Anyway, if English dies because of texting, we can always learn Chinese.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2012, 01:36:54 AM by DoWhileNot »



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Reply #32 on: October 24, 2012, 01:43:42 AM
I remember the brief reign of "Leetspeak", which was a sort of shorthand used by gamers to communicate before VOIP. I remember being interested because it was a dialect only meant to be read, not meant to be spoken.

I think some of the same things about texting shortcuts these days. More advanced phones are picking what people don't mean to say, forcing people to check their sendings and become more accurate.



Unblinking

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Reply #33 on: October 24, 2012, 03:49:39 PM
The fact that English changes doesn't mean it's about to die.  

Maybe not, but if everyone adopts text-speak for all communications, I will be a sad sad person. 



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Reply #34 on: October 24, 2012, 08:19:44 PM
The fact that English changes doesn't mean it's about to die.  

Maybe not, but if everyone adopts text-speak for all communications, I will be a sad sad person. 

Amen.

DoWhileNot is right, though, saying it will "kill" English is an exaggeration. It will change it, and I don't like the changes. I can admit that. I must be getting old.

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Reply #35 on: October 24, 2012, 09:22:51 PM
i'm on ur lawn killin ur grammarz

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


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Reply #36 on: October 24, 2012, 09:39:49 PM
i'm on ur lawn killin ur grammarz
You Sir (or Madam) are entitled to one free internet.

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Unblinking

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Reply #37 on: October 25, 2012, 01:25:57 PM
i'm on ur lawn killin ur grammarz

I guess I don't need to ask "Wair u at?" then...



DoWhileNot

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Reply #38 on: October 25, 2012, 04:17:09 PM
Hey Unblinking, I listened to your Cast of Wonders story yesterday...  Good job - I liked it.
And the dragon didn't say cya l8tr  :)



Unblinking

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Reply #39 on: October 25, 2012, 04:48:42 PM
Hey Unblinking, I listened to your Cast of Wonders story yesterday...  Good job - I liked it.
And the dragon didn't say cya l8tr  :)

Thanks!  I thought Graeme did a good job voicing and producing it.  I'm glad you liked it.  :)