One intriguing issue was how one site mentioned in the textbook contained a lot of user-generated content from people who knew different languages. It stated that the blogs, while still 84% English, had another 16% that consisted of other languages, including Spanish, Russian, and Japanese. The variety of these languages is astounding, yet it could prove beneficial in the long run. With people coming to theUnited Statesfrom other countries and more residents of theU.S.speaking languages other than English, it is a worthwhile notion for Americans to attempt to learn as many different languages as possible. This would help prevent confusion between citizens of a diversified population. While I personally do not have any experience with non-English languages on the internet, issues such as these should not be ignored.
The influx of different languages should not be counted out as the only interesting fact in these two readings. Second is how nonverbal gestures can convey emotional meaning, even when not accompanied by verbal assistance. This could also prove useful, since some individuals fear increased use of the internet could result in diminishing personal conversations between people. However, this is not the worst possible side effect of increased internet use. The worst is the lowering morality in today’s culture because of an increasing lack of people skills.
One final fact is that social norms like politeness and civility toward others are being replaced with the notion that people should be mean to one another in order to succeed. This thirst for payback toward people who do other individuals wrong could prove to be humanity’s downfall. Loss of compassion towards others could prove an easy way to make enemies. It is a sad philosophy in today’s society: sympathy toward others has seemingly become revenge against adversaries.