The Written Word: From Printing to the Internet - Response

In the article “The Written Word: From Printing to the Internet” (2006) by Michael Noll, the history of communication between persons is outlined as starting with the written word and evolving to instant delivery of messages through the Internet. Obstacles with transportation, encoding and printing of the written word over the years were overcome with newer and better technologies, and the article makes the point in its introduction that the written word allowed for preservation of human speech, whereas it “could only be saved through memorization and passed on through oral tradition” in the past (15).

Beginning with paintings and carvings on tablets and evolving into an alphabetic language, written messages grew into a printing press of newspapers and magazines to broadcast news and information to a global audience. The article also brought light to the personality and intimacy of the written letter, now seen as a “lost art because of the widespread use” of the Internet and electronic, instantaneous communication methods (19). The physical written letter was presented as a close substitute for face-to-face communication because of the time and effort it takes compared to the instant messaging and e-mail of today.

An issue that arose with printed material was the same issue that came about with any other tangible product—it had to be physically delivered and distributed, and various forms of a postal service existed since 1600 BC with the Egyptians (18). While physical delivery of goods continues to exist today, the process and necessity of it for certain products can be seen as the next major step to be streamlined and simplified, or perhaps “digitized” or virtualized entirely in the future. Music, video and other media is now delivered digitally and outgrows their physical disc mediums, and it is only a matter of time and technology before more products are sent instantly rather than physically.

Be Who You Want To Be - Response

In the article "Be Who You Want to Be" (2010) by Katie Ellis, the idea behind one’s social identity is explored as seen through Facebook, the online social networking platform. As a mild user of Facebook myself, it has been interesting to see how people willingly provide personal information in order to create a “true-to-life” identity for social connections. The implicitly anonymous factor of the Internet doesn’t hold true for Facebook, where its privacy issues and sometimes overreaching feature set seem to make headlines every few weeks. 

George Mead’s distinction between ‘I’ and ‘me’ in his interpretation of identity was one I could resonate with. In an arena like Facebook, people want to portray themselves under a particular light and perception. The information we provide for others to see—through photos, status updates and the like—create a social persona that relates us to others.

Tara Brabazon stating that the news feed in Facebook is “corroding our capacity to determine the important, relevant and significant” (40) is another point that I never considered when using the service. The overwhelming amount of largely uncategorized information coming from our social groups is numbing to the mind, and the movement to stay “offline” from Facebook and other social networking sites is a desirable one to disconnect myself from the bombardment of notifications.

Introduction Post

Hello out there! My name is Felix and I'm taking COMM 131P. My last communications course of any kind was COMM 20 (Public Speaking) many semesters ago, so it'll be interesting to me how this web-centric course will run its...course. Here goes:

I'm studying Computer Engineering here at San Jose State University, entering the fifth year of studies as a senior-senior but on track to graduate in Spring of 2012. I've also been working part-time for a year while I investigate into internship and career opportunities (but mostly wonder about life and where it'll take me). My school workload has always been pretty intensive, so I hope that the time I put into this course will be rewarding.

I did have an amateur blog in the past through Xanga (but who didn't?), then I broke off into a self-made blog of my own in Yahoo! GeoCities (remember that?) before eventually giving up on letting my thoughts out with digital write-ups. I'll be curious to see how the blog writing for this course will be fleshed out...

...but for the sake of introduction, I suppose I'll be brief:

I think technology and the world surrounding it is pretty cool and something I hope to get involved in through my major--industry, gadgets, mobile, etc. Video games are something I enjoy as an example of technology, although I haven't played as much as I did in the past. Music and media are a part of it, too, although I wish I had the talent and creative chops for media creation rather than just consumption.

I'm pretty used to being in front of a computer, but I grew up with Hot Wheels, the Simpsons, Pokemon, basketball...and several other things that eclipse my mind at the moment.

I don't consider myself a stickler for proper English, but many around me consider my grammar to be top-notch, which I refuse to agree with.

I'm sure there's more for me to say, but the pretense of "staying brief" with my introduction will end things here. Look forward to a future blog posting titled Introduction Post, Part II...possibly.

I'm on Facebook which I occasionally check, Twitter which I rarely check, AIM/Gtalk which I occasionally respond through, and Yahoo! Messenger which I have not used in many years but will intend to use again for this course based on communication preferences with the professor. There you have it!

-MikeyGoLucky