Spell-checking is for champs! (HW 5b)

In the reading, “I Blog, Therefore I am”, Kline insists that, despite the naysayers, the revolution that is Blogging will not impair the literacy skills of the youth. He continues on his exhausted, romantic tangent about the Internet is for the people, by the people, and the creation of a “new language” (“Net Speak”), is not dumbing the youth. He finishes the chapter off with the poetic proclamation that, “not every voice [should] be smart, or right, or even polite… we [should] all have a voice”.

No, Kline, no one said we should be any of those things, but coherency would be nice.

Kline argues that, even though proper language is not being used, at least the youth are encouraged to write, and that’s better than nothing at all. It is wonderful that young people are excited about writing, but with the presence of the Internet and blogging, a realm where spell-checking and revision does not exist, they’re doomed to be conditioned into a lower form of literacy. (Let's set low standards; so we have no expectations!)

Again and again I hear teachers, professors, MY DAD complain about how increasingly poor the writing skills of students are. There’s a lot to be said about being able to efficiently, and clearly express yourself. There leaves little to no room for your words to be misconstrued and your point lost if you take the time to master some sort of language and writing skills.

I’m not denying the empowering source that the Internet can be, is. But unlike Kline, I have more faith in bloggers, and expect some coherency in their arguments, and solid sentence structure. I do not doubt the intelligence of the bloggers, as Kline apparently does; I’m questioning the seriousness in their writing. If they can’t take the time to re-read and revise before hitting “submit”, I won't waste mine trying to decipher them. It just shows lack of serious thought, and how can I be expected to care if the author doesn’t?

Go ahead, write away. Get your thoughts out there. You have that right. But I have the right to demand something thought-provoking, stimulating, and readable. When you don’t take the time to re insure that your point will not be lost in translation, you just sound like an adolescent going on an angst-ridden rant. And no one takes adolescents seriously.