Short-Hand = abbreviated
One way that blogging changes writing is similar to the way IMing has changed writing. Some people use a lot of shorthand or abrveations that perhaps they wouldn't feel comfortable using in other types of writing. Because many more people currently use internet types of writing more frequently than official forms of writing, writing in general has taken on a more informal shape. If someone has to write something out longhand, type it up and then submit it to be published, it will likely be more polished than something that he/she can whip up for his/her blog.
: Blogging shows some of the punctuation and sentence construction shifts that we see in email. There's a move towards informal wording and informal sentence construction: paratactic constructions rather than hypotactic, fewer embedded non-restrictive clauses, a move away from periodic style and towards running style. Overall, the sentences sound spoken rather than written. Punctuation is lighter (less use of comma with intro clause or with co-od conjunctions, less use of semi-coloons), and it's leaning towards the rhetorical and away from the structural. That is, punctuation online tends to indicate how the message should be performed if read aloud rather than following structural rules. (see David Crystal, Language and the Internet; Naomi Baron, Alphabet to email; Richard Lanham, Analyzing Prose; and Constance Hale, ed, WIred Style.)
: Lists appear as an alternative to sentences and even paragraph development. Phrases rather than predications might be part of the shorthand.
Short-Hand = grammatically incorrect and content focused
Many people don't spell check or grammar check their blogs (actually most don't), and this leads to a less rigorous standard for "correctness" in the blogosphere. It seems to be more about content; how you present your ideas or happenings doesn't matter as long as it gets the point accross.
: The shift isn't from "correct" to "incorrect" so much as a shift away from conventions for print. What's interesting in your observation is that authors might not feel the need to use a grammar checker to flag possible infelicities in online writing. The same author might well use a grammar checker for print.
Is this true?
Blogging and other forms of online writing are changing all languages, not just English.Blogging has not brought down the expectations for writing, but rather encouraged the formation of new writing styles. The English language is constantly evolving, but blogging is not erasing the more traditional style of writing. Newer writing styles such as online games, chats and text messaging are producing new forms of their original languages.
Has blogging brought down the expectations for grammatical correctness in the English language, and is this a good thing?
Yes. These languages serve purposes ? quick and easy publishing and communication. We live in a society of InstantGratification and these new languages allow for instantaneous communication with one another.
TheCollective
I believe that short-hand/abbreviations have personally dumbed down my writing. I think "im'ing" and other internet forms of writing might have played a role in my intial interest in writing as a possible hobby/career, I also think every coin has two sides.
The quick and ease of writing an email or an instant message conversation has watered down my grammer and punctuation. After becoming overly accustomed to online messaging, I noticed that I started using more run-on sentances, dropping coma's and basically forgot what a semi colon was used for. For example, "You're" become "Your". The haste of online conversations also has alowed me to ignore any sense of sentance tense. I honestly feel that many of my basic english skills were stronger before the emmergency of online conversation.
I have also noticed that "im" abbrevations are slowly sneaking into verbal communication. I will be talking to a friend and they might respond with "brb" (Be right Back) or "lol" (laugh out loud). To many who are unacustomed to online talk this could be confusing. I still am like "Wait, what did that person just say" when I hear someone drop an instant messaging term.
DanielStern
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