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Jamie Sullivan

ENC 1101

Mcgriff

October 28, 2019

The Decline of our Communication

Everyone in this day and age uses texting and social media to communicate, however, not

many people realize how much it can decline our communication skills in the English language.

Texting has grown more popular in this decade and it continues to become more of an everyday

routine for mostly everyone who uses social media. Although most people these days believe

texting can be more convenient than communicating in person, the use of texting and social

media can leave readers guessing, the use of punctuation may become more foreign to the

writers, and most people who text most of the time will end up not knowing how to communicate

face to face.

While someone is texting, they may be stating vague sentences and that can lead to

leaving a reader guessing. Although most people are leaving their readers guessing, they are also

leaving room for them to understand what was meant to be said. The reader must have at least

some common sense to be able to do that. The only real difference between texting vaguely and

using proper grammar is the use of single letters and abbreviations. The use of single letters is

what stands out the most, but the readers should be able to understand what the writer is trying to

say. Abbreviation is nothing new in the English language. ​2b or Not 2b? s​ tates that “English has
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had abbreviated words ever since it began to be written down.” (Crystal 902) Anyone who has

been familiar with the English speaking language knows that abbreviations are used in everyday

lives, and not just in texting. This being said, it is more likely that the reader will not be able to

understand fully what the writer is trying to say. When a writer is leaving their readers guessing,

the reader has to think too much about what happens next. This works with texting as well.

When a writer is stating such vague statements within a conversation throughout texting it can

make their conversation seem like it does not completely get the point across. This is basically an

unfinished statement that the writer has created. While two friends are texting and one of them

leaves their friend guessing what comes next, it could lead to a negative emotion that was not

anticipated by them. This would be because they are so vague about what they are trying to say,

so the reader becomes confused and possibly upset.

Texting and social media has a big difference when writing something serious. One of the

differences is how little punctuation is used throughout social media. Punctuation is something

that one could become very unfamiliar with. The opposing side could argue that text messages

have no use for punctuation. They could also argue that punctuation in general is not necessary.

According to an article titled ​Punctuation in the Age of the Internet, ​it states that “Today, people

do not really pay attention to every grammar rule when they are chatting with their friends or

posting things on social media. ​A 2007 study​, for example, showed that students at American

colleges only use punctuation in 39% of their text conversations and that punctuation at the end

of sentences in instant-messaging conversations was only used 45% of the time.” Readers tend to

only worry about what the messages say rather than how bad punctuation is.​ ​When writing

anything that does not have punctuation, it usually contains nothing but run on sentences. Run on
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sentences are not something a reader wants to try and struggle to read. If a writer is writing a

serious document, such as an essay or a formal letter, the use of bad punctuation will not affect

them in positive ways. The reader will most likely be confused and not understand how they

should be reading the document. The writer is probably not good at punctuation because of how

often they text or go on social media. A solution to this problem could be to start writing their

text messages or social media posts with proper punctuation and proper use of the English

language.

Face to face communication does not come along with texting or any social media for

that matter. Anyone who texts more than talking will say that it’s more convenient and talking in

person is not as needed when social media exists. Anyone can just easily plan an event within a

single text message and it will not need more talking than that. Texting more than talking in

person has its disadvantages however. ​How Texting Changes Communication ​states that

“...people who text a lot may be more uncomfortable with in-person communication and may

even use their cell phones to communicate with people who are in their presence.” This means

that the people who often send out text messages will have trouble communicating in person and

it will most likely have them feeling weary when it comes to face-to-face interaction. Some

people may find themselves unable to look others in the eye when talking to them in person.

Others will just send a text to someone who is either in the same room or building as them.

To sum this up, the use of texting and social media can strongly decline our

communication skills. It can leave readers guessing, the use of punctuation may become more

foreign to the writers, and most people who text most of the time will end up not knowing how to

communicate face to face.